October 4, 2024 

In a period of less than ten days, the Israeli occupation army intensified its bombardment of Lebanon, committing massacres against children and families, killing at least 700 people in the first few days, including more than 50 children and 100 women, wounding more than 2,000, and hundreds of thousands forcibly displaced.

In a cumulative toll since 8 October 2023, 1’974 people have been martyred, including 127 children, half of whom were killed in the past week alone, and 261 women were killed by Israeli shelling. The number of people displaced by the Israeli aggression rose to 1.2 million people, 160,200 of whom are registered in shelters, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health Lebanon. UNICEF estimates that more than 300,000 children have been displaced from their homes. The toll of the aggression among paramedics and firefighters to 97 martyrs and 188 wounded, and the numbers continue to rise.

Since September 17, 2024, Israel has unleashed the widest and most violent wave of aggression against Lebanon, its families and children:

• It used an unprecedented and inhumane method by planting explosives inside thousands of pagers (a type of wireless communication device) widely used by health workers, medical personnel, and merchants, not just fighters or those affiliated with organisations that Israel considers hostile. The detonation of the devices among civilians in homes, markets, streets, cars, and pharmacies has killed dozens of people and maimed hundreds, including children.
• It detonated wireless communication devices (walkie-talkies), which are more widely used than pagers by paramedics, civil defence crews, and others, resulting in casualties and injuries.
• It launched the largest and most violent wave of bombing that has hit most Lebanese governorates, directly targeting civilians and their homes, resulting in hundreds of martyrs and thousands of wounded, with a large number of missing and trapped under the rubble.
• It forced tens of thousands of families into displacement after their homes were destroyed or threatened with destruction under flimsy pretexts.
• 9 hospitals and 45 medical centres were targeted, resulting in 97 martyrs and 188 wounded to date. It also targeted 128 cars and vehicles.
• It targeted two journalists who were martyred, as well as female teachers who were killed by Israeli shelling, and two employees of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were killed in their offices.

Current conditions:

The Israeli war comes against the backdrop of a suffocating economic crisis that Lebanon has been experiencing for years, which affects all sectors, putting the Lebanese economy in a bleak scenario and exposing children to severe risks:

• The population suffers from multidimensional poverty, with the poverty rate more than tripling over the past decade, according to the World Bank in May of this year.
• Lebanon is hosting more than 1.5 million displaced Syrians and half a million Palestinian refugees, adding to the burden of the economic crisis.
• Inflation has risen sharply, the local currency has lost over 90% of its purchasing power, and the central bank’s reserves have declined significantly.
• Children are increasingly deprived of education, and many are forced into labour.

The needs of children and families in light of the Israeli war:

Despite the wave of solidarity in Lebanon and grassroots initiatives to embrace the displaced, the needs of the displaced are significant, and the most important among them are:

• Sheltering families who are still in the open and providing assistance to emergency centres and government roving teams to follow up on displaced people’s affairs.
• Providing supplies of all kinds in shelters that are suffering from severe shortages. 
• According to the Lebanese Emergency Committee, 160’200 IDPs are spread across 867 reception centres, 643 of which have reached their maximum capacity.
• Providing food supplies and subsidies, especially in light of the Ministry of Economy’s recent announcement to raise the price of a loaf of bread.
• Providing health care for the sick and wounded, especially as the health sector is at risk of paralysis and the Lebanese government has announced that hospitals are unable to receive more wounded.

The above and more come in the context of the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip and the systematic abuse in the West Bank. The Israeli occupation, in its war on Lebanon and its children, is clearly and blatantly violating:

• • All articles of the “Convention on the Rights of the Child” which emphasise the protection of children, especially in times of war.
  • “International Humanitarian Law” which is applied during conflicts and the Geneva Conventions, especially the Fourth Convention on the Protection of Civilians.

• The “Principle of distinction and proportionality”, as defined by the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) definition of “indiscriminate attacks” (Rule 12) is:

1.  Which are not directed at a specific military objective; 
2.  Which employ a method or means of combat that cannot be directed at a specific military objective; or
3.  Which employ a method or means of combat the effects of which cannot be limited as required by IHL, and consequently, in each such case, are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilian objects without distinction.

In its war on Lebanon, Israel proves once again that it is hostile to the conventions on the protection of children, does not unambiguously distinguish between civilians and combatants, and violates children’s rights in all their forms by

• Targeting wireless communication devices.
• Targeting medical personnel and child health care providers.
• Forced mass displacement of children and their families.
• Deliberately destroying homes under false pretences.

Accordingly, The Arab Network for Early Childhood, based in Beirut, calls for 

• Immediately stop the Israeli war on Lebanon and its children.
• Ensure the return of the forcibly displaced to their homes, more than 120,000 of whom were displaced before the current wave of attacks. And securing the needs of children and their families in places of displacement until the return is secured.
• Provide in-kind and financial assistance from countries and organisations concerned with the protection of children.
• Condemn the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against civilians and children in Lebanon.
• Demand that organisations concerned with early childhood development, child protection, and child welfare adopt clear positions that avoid double standards and support children in Lebanon and their right to a dignified life like other children worldwide.

International Humanitarian Law Databases – ICRC

Customary IHL – Rule 12. Definition of Indiscriminate Attacks (icrc.org)

For Donations:
(“This donation does not cover any administrative expenses or costs”)
Arab Resource Collective – Arab Network for Early Childhood Bank Account:
Account Name:
Arab Resource Collective

Currency: US Dollars

Swift code: ARABLBBX

IBAN: LB49 0005 0000 0000 3323 3184 1924

Account Number :
0332-331841-924

Bank Name :
Arab Bank – Ras-Beirut Branch – Beirut – Lebanon