Save the Children released a report on August 27 showing that Israel has killed or injured an average of seven children per day in Lebanon since March 2026, despite agreements between the Lebanese government and Israel to end hostilities.
According to the organization's data, over the past six months, the conflict has killed at least 4,300 people and wounded more than 12,000 in Lebanon. Among them, at least 257 children were killed and 1,039 wounded. About 60-70 villages have been destroyed or severely damaged.
Nora Ingdal, Save the Children's country director in Lebanon, urged: "The international community must not let repeated attacks, displacement, restrictions on return, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure become the new normal for Lebanon's children."
The conflict escalated after Hezbollah and Israel traded cross-border attacks starting in October 2023. They reached a temporary ceasefire in November 2024, but it largely collapsed after Hezbollah fired rockets and drones at a military base in northern Israel on March 2, in retaliation for the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The Lebanese government and Israel subsequently reached framework agreements in April and June to end hostilities, but Hezbollah said it rejected them until Israel fully withdrew its forces from Lebanese territory. Israeli forces still occupy several areas in southern Lebanon and have been repeatedly accused of violating the ceasefire.
At the height of hostilities, more than one million people were displaced in southern Lebanon. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 348,800 people remain unable to return home despite the ceasefire signed in June.
Even for children who have been able to return home in recent months, barriers to essential services like schools and hospitals persist. A survey by Lebanon's Ministry of Education and Higher Education found that 340 schools were damaged or destroyed over the past six months. According to Save the Children, at least 100,000 children risk missing the upcoming school year unless urgent action is taken to restore Lebanon's school system.
