UNICEF warned on Tuesday that additional escalation between Israel and Hezbollah can be “catastrophic” for all kids in Lebanon, urging an instantaneous de-escalation.
“On Monday alone, at least 35 children were reportedly killed in Lebanon. This is more than the number of children killed in Lebanon in the past 11 months. Eleven months in one day. 35 children, in one day among 492 reportedly killed,” UNICEF deputy consultant to Lebanon Ettie Higgins informed a U.N. press briefing in Geneva on Israeli airstrikes.
Noting that over 1,645 folks have been additionally injured throughout these airstrikes, Higgins burdened that “more children are in danger as I speak, exposed to ongoing attacks, displaced from their homes and unable to rely on an overstretched and under-sourced health system.”
“If we return to a conflict, like those dark days of 2006, I fear this time could be even worse for the children of Lebanon,” she stated.
She underlined that households in Lebanon are already “at the brink” on account of financial and political disaster.
“Any further escalation in this conflict would be catastrophic for all children in Lebanon, but especially families from villages and towns in the south and the Bekaa, in Eastern Lebanon, who have been forced to leave their homes,” the UNICEF official stated.
She famous that these newly displaced add to the 112,000 individuals who have been displaced since October.
UNICEF urgently requires an instantaneous de-escalation and for all events to uphold their obligations beneath worldwide humanitarian regulation to make sure the safety of civilian infrastructure and civilians, together with kids, humanitarian employees and medical personnel, Higgins stated.
She added that it contains facilitating the secure motion of civilians looking for security.
“Yesterday was Lebanon’s worst day in 18 years,” she stated. “This violence has to stop immediately, or the consequences will be unconscionable.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com