The ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which resumed in March following the targeted killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran, has had a severe humanitarian impact on Lebanon’s children, according to a recent UNICEF report. The six-month confrontation displaced approximately 1.2 million people across southern Lebanon, with around 340,000 individuals—one-third of whom are children—still unable to return to their homes.

UNICEF’s findings reveal that 22% of Lebanese children have gone to bed hungry in recent weeks, while 20% have missed an entire year of schooling. The report highlights that roughly seven children have been killed or wounded daily since the conflict reignited, with an estimated 12% of the injured now living with disabilities. Displacement and economic hardship have taken a toll on families’ ability to access medical care; 71% of households reported difficulty meeting their children’s health needs, a threefold increase compared to six months ago. Additionally, 38% of families could not obtain necessary medicines, and 31% said their children had not received adequate healthcare, primarily due to cost barriers.

The report details that 6% of households had children who became sick or injured as a direct result of the conflict, and 34% of these children did not receive the treatment they required. Disrupted water systems have affected over 700,000 people, including 238,000 children, raising the risk of infectious diseases. Economic struggles have intensified recently, with 82% of families reporting greater difficulty affording basic necessities compared to three months prior. More than half (55%) could not provide their children with three meals a day, and only 10% of households with children under five reported providing a sufficiently varied diet. Child labor is also reportedly on the rise, with 14% of families indicating at least one child has been compelled to work, up from 6% earlier this year.

Education has been notably disrupted, as public schools have been extensively affected by the war. During the conflict’s peak, 433 public schools—approximately one-third of Lebanon’s public education facilities—were converted into shelters, potentially depriving nearly 100,000 children of classroom access. Damage to education infrastructure has been widespread, with 436 schools sustaining damage and 37 destroyed entirely. Seventy-six percent of families reported increased difficulty meeting educational needs, 46% reduced spending on education, and 17% ceased their children’s schooling due to a lack of available options. One in five households said their children did not attend school in the previous year, and among those who did, 29% struggled to learn effectively, often due to emotional distress and concentration difficulties.

UNICEF Lebanon representative Marcoluigi Corsi emphasized the urgency of addressing the crisis, warning that without sustained intervention, an entire generation of Lebanese children risks carrying long-lasting scars from the conflict into adulthood.