Israel kills or injures 7 children a day in Lebanon invasion, report says

Israel has killed an average of seven children each day in Lebanon since March, according to the Save the Children relief organisation.

Key points

• Hezbollah and Israel began launching cross-border strikes after the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
• A nationwide assessment conducted by Lebanon's Ministry of Education and Higher Education has discovered that 340 schools have been damaged or destroyed previously six months.
• At least 100, 000 children are at risk of missing the next school year without urgent action to restore Lebanon's schools, according to Save the Children.
• The two sides reached a tentative ceasefire agreement in November 2024 after Israel seized swathes of territory in southern Lebanon.
• The toll includes at least 257 children killed and 1, 039 injured.

In a release on Wednesday, the group remarked that despite agreements between Lebanon's administration and Israel aimed at ending the fighting, children remain at risk due to Israel's ongoing aggression towards civilian infrastructure.

Over the last six months, Israel has killed at least 4, 300 individuals, wounded over 12, 000 and destroyed between 60 and 70 villages, according to Save the Children. The toll includes at least 257 children killed and 1, 039 injured.

Nora Ingdal, group's Lebanon country director, remarked "The international community must not allow continued attacks, displacement, restrictions on return and the destruction of civilian infrastructure to become the new normal for children in Lebanon."

At the peak of the fighting, more than a million individuals were displaced in southern Lebanon. Over 348, 800 individuals remain unable to return home despite the ceasefire signed in June, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Notably, the two sides reached a tentative ceasefire agreement in November 2024 after Israel seized swathes of territory in southern Lebanon. Israeli forces have continued to occupy plenty of areas in southern Lebanon and have repeatedly violated the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, the accord largely collapsed after the Lebanon-based armed group Hezbollah rolled out a rocket and drone attack against a military base in northern Israel on March 2, in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

For context, the Lebanese administration and Israel reached a framework agreement to end the fighting in June. It hezbollah has rejected unless Israel fully withdraws from Lebanese territory.

In practice, the two sides reached an earlier agreement aimed at ending the fighting in April.

According to Save the Children, even for children who have been able to return to their homes in recent months, barriers to all forms of essential services, including schools and hospitals, persist.

Meanwhile, a nationwide assessment conducted by Lebanon's Ministry of Education and Higher Education has discovered that 340 schools have been damaged or destroyed previously six months.

In short, israel kills or injures 7 children a day in Lebanon invasion, report is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.