Lebanon: Escalation in Conflict Forces Families to Flee - Save the Children Provides Aid

Over 58,000 people, including an estimated 16,000 children, have already been displaced.

Save the Children is providing essential supplies to affected families.

The children's rights organisation calls for the protection of children.

"Our team is hearing from children across the country who are sleeping in cars, on cold sidewalks, and in partially damaged schoolrooms, while their parents sit on the roadside weeping because they cannot find safe and suitable accommodation for their family," says Nora Ingdal, Country Director for Save the Children in Lebanon. "In some of the schools where families are sheltered, water is leaking from broken pipes and there are no beds."

In one school where the children's rights organisation is providing assistance, more than 230 people are currently being housed, although it was only designed for 130 schoolchildren – and the number of incoming displaced people is rapidly increasing.

According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, more than 58,000 people, including an estimated 16,000 children, have been displaced in recent days due to Israeli airstrikes and forced relocations. As the armed conflict in the region continues to spread, reports indicate that 50 people, including seven children, have been killed and another 335 injured.

"In the south, families on the move are caught in traffic jams stretching for kilometres. It's chaos. Journeys that usually take an hour now take more than 15 hours," adds Nora Ingdal. "Parents are telling our staff how worried they are because they can smell smoke and see bombs and drones in the sky. I heard one ten-year-old ask her mother: 'Why are they attacking us?' This is a question no child should have to ask. Many of these children have already been displaced once and are utterly terrified. The future is uncertain for millions of people. Everything must be done now to prevent further escalation. All parties to the conflict must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law. Children must be protected at all times."

Save the Children is on the ground distributing vital aid supplies such as drinking water, blankets, mattresses, baby supplies, and hygiene kits to displaced families.

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