Source: Save the Children
Families are sleeping in cars, in the street and in damaged schools seeking safety as the number of people displaced in Lebanon rises and with seven children reported killed, Save the Children said.
About 58,000 people, including an estimated 16,000 children have been displaced in Lebanon in the past three days according to the Ministry of Social Affairs due to Israeli airstrikes and forced displacement orders.
With media reports of an Israeli ground incursion more families are fleeing their homes. [1]
As armed conflict spreads in the wider region, Israeli strikes have reportedly killed 40 people including seven children in Lebanon and a further 246 injured since Saturday.[2] [3]
Save the Children is urgently calling for a cessation of hostilities to protect children from further harm. Save the Children is responding on the ground by distributing essential items such as blankets, mattresses, pillows, baby supplies, hygiene items and water to people that are displaced.
Nora Ingdal, Save the Children’s Country Director for Lebanon, said: “Our team is hearing cases of children across Lebanon sleeping in cars, on cold pavements, and in partially damaged classrooms with cracks in the walls, while parents are sitting on the side of the streets crying, exhausted from little sleep after being unable to get into proper shelters with their children.
“The buildings that they are finding and using as shelters are places no child should have to sleep in. Some of the schools housing families have water dripping through the walls from broken pipes, and there are no beds. These buildings are becoming increasingly crowded are not designed to house families.
“In the south, families attempting to flee are stuck in huge queues of traffic. The situation is pure chaos for those on the move. Journeys that should take an hour are now taking over 15. Parents are telling Save the Children staff how anxious they feel, as they smell smoke and see bombs and drones loom in the sky over them.
“I heard a 10-year-old ask her mother “Why are they attacking us?” Her mother was completely lost for words and unable to give any answer to her child. This isn’t a question any child should have to ask.
“Many of these children have been displaced before and are completely terrified, families are being forced to relive their trauma and have nowhere safe to go. With media reports of an Israeli ground incursion, families are glued to the news for any updates, but nothing is clear at the moment, and the future remains unknown for millions.
Every possible effort must now be taken to prevent further escalation and to safeguard children. There must be an end to the hostilities. All parties involved in the conflict must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law. Children must be protected at all times.”
SOURCES:
[1] Lebanon Ministry of Social Affairs
[2] Lebanon Ministry of Social Affairs
[3] UNICEF Lebanon
Notes:
There are no cooking facilities in the shelters currently and toilet and washing facilities very minimal. Families are being forced to share toilets in schools meant for children in schools.
One school Save the Children is responding in is meant for 130 students but there are already over 230 people sleeping there with the number rapidly rising.
Rents have almost tripled overnight, with people being forced to stay with friends and relatives.
All Save the Children staff in Lebanon have been affected. Some have had to flee with their own families during the night. They have barely slept, yet they still show up for work to help others with many fasting for Ramadan.
