Almost 700,000 displaced, 84 children killed after Zionist strikes on Lebanon

The humanitarian crisis in Lebanon has deepened amid the wider Middle East war, with 84 children killed and more than 667,000 people displaced, two U.N. agencies said on Tuesday, as lives are upended on a massive scale across the country.

A total of 486 people has been killed in the war so far and 1,313 injured, of which 259 are children, according to the World Health Organization.

“This is only seven-days conflict, and we are already seeing that almost 100 children that have lost their lives,” said Abdinasir Abubakar, WHO representative in Lebanon.

“One reason why we have a high number of children is that most of the attacks that we see actually is, it’s urban centers, like in Beirut,” he said, adding that “Israel’s” airstrikes are putting civilian lives at risk.

Meanwhile, nearly 700,000 people have been displaced across Lebanon in just over a week as the conflict escalates, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday.

Karolina Lindholm Billing, the UNHCR representative in Lebanon, told reporters in Geneva that the crisis has rapidly uprooted families following intensified airstrikes and evacuation warnings issued on March 2 for residents in more than 53 villages and densely populated areas.

“Lives have been upended on a massive scale,” she said.

According to Lebanese authorities, more than 667,000 people have registered on the government’s online displacement platform, an increase of over 100,000 in a single day, with numbers continuing to rise.

About 120,000 displaced people are currently sheltering in government-designated collective sites, Billing noted, while many others are staying with relatives or searching for accommodation after fleeing their homes with few belongings.

The violence has also triggered cross-border movement into neighboring Syria. Syrian authorities report that over 78,000 Syrians and more than 7,700 Lebanese have entered Syria since the escalation began, she said.

The Zionist forces and the US launched a joint attack on Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,200 people and injuring over 10,000 others. The conflict spilled over to Lebanon, with “Israel” launching deadly airstrikes that have killed hundreds and displaced thousands since March 2.