Amir, 8 years old was injured on the 23rd of September, in South Lebanon during the dangerous escalation of the conflict in Lebanon. Now, he is being treated at one of Beirut's public hospitals. Photo courtesy of UNICEF website.
In a post on the UN agency’s X account on Saturday, UNICEF shared a video and written message that said: “The ongoing war in Lebanon is shattering children’s lives, inflicting severe physical wounds and deep emotional scars.
With prolonged periods of traumatic stress, children face severe health and psychological risks, and the consequences can last a lifetime.
True healing can only begin when this war on childhood ends. Ceasefire now.”
UNICEF said it had reached more than 10,000 children and caregivers with psychological and community support.
The video also included the story of nine-year-old Mira, who shared her story by saying, “We were at home. Suddenly, there was the threat of bombing near our house. At that moment, we got scared and ran away.
We don’t know if our house was damaged, but the windows might be broken because they bombed near our house.
Here we’re doing social activities. I’m making new friends, studying, and learning. They’re [UNICEF] giving us blankets and supplies.
I strongly long to return home, sleep in my bed, and play with my toys.
"Once the war ends, the first thing I want to do is visit my relatives. I want to check on them, and I hope we’ll all be safe and well.”
Children play at a school turned into a shelter for people fleeing Israeli bombardment of the Baalbek area, in eastern Lebanon's Deir al-Ahmar town. AFP
The Israeli bombardment of Lebanon has destroyed hundreds of residential units in the south, Beqa Valley, and Dahiya in south Beirut, forcing more than 1.3 million to flee their homes.
Israeli airstrikes have killed nearly 3,000 and wounded nearly 14,000 civilians—many of them women and children.
Gaza: Graveyard for Children!
The UNICEF issued another dire appeal for an immediate ceasefire in the Israeli war on Gaza.
In a post on X, the UN children's welfare agency said: "Indiscriminate assaults on children, civilians, and humanitarian workers in the Gaza Strip continue. It is beyond time to end this war. We need a ceasefire now."
Meanwhile, Anas Al-Sharif, an Al Jazeera reporter in northern Gaza, posted a heartbreaking video of several children after they were rescued from the rubble of a home demolished in an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahia.
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