The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has profoundly impacted millions of children across more than a dozen countries, leading to widespread displacement, significant casualties, and reports of child recruitment. The violence has also severely damaged crucial infrastructure and disrupted education for a generation.

According to the United Nations agency for children, Unicef, over 340 children have been killed and thousands more injured since the United States and Israel initiated attacks on Iran, which has responded with bombings across the region. The conflict's first day saw a US missile strike on an Iranian school, killing at least 160 children and teachers, marking the highest reported child casualty event. Israel's invasion of Lebanon and continued operations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza have further intensified the toll.

Across the region, more than 1.2 million children have been displaced. In Lebanon, Israeli military actions and displacement orders have forced nearly 400,000 children from their homes, Unicef assessments indicate. Many are living in makeshift shelters or on the streets, facing dire conditions. Marcoluigi Corsi, Unicef’s representative to Lebanon, warned that this "relentless cycle of bombardment and displacement is severely compounding their psychological scars."

Reports have also emerged of children as young as 12 being used at security checkpoints in Iran by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Human Rights Watch released a report in late March detailing an IRGC campaign to recruit "homeland defending combatants," with a minimum age of 12. The organization states that military recruitment and use of children under 15 constitutes a grave violation of children's rights and a war crime. An 11-year-old Iranian boy was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike while serving at a security checkpoint with the Basij, a volunteer militia under IRGC command.

The conflict has also devastated essential infrastructure. A US bombing of a primary school in Minab on February 28 killed scores, predominantly young girls, an event Unesco described as a "grave violation" of international law. The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported that 316 medical centers and 763 schools have been severely damaged or destroyed in attacks it attributes to US-backed Israeli forces. Education for at least 52 million school-aged children across the region has been disrupted, according to Save the Children, with many schools closed or repurposed as shelters. Ahmad Alhendawi, regional director for Save the Children, emphasized that "classrooms are usually the first to close and some of the last places to reopen."

The psychological impact on children exposed to frequent traumatic events is profound, affecting brain development, emotional regulation, and long-term mental health. Catherine Russell, Unicef’s executive director, stated that "children in the region are being exposed to horrific violence, while the very systems and services meant to keep them safe are coming under attack."

Casualties among children are reported in multiple areas. In Israel, at least four children have been killed by retaliatory Iranian missiles, including during a March 1 strike on Beit Shemesh. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers and security forces have killed at least three children since the Iran conflict began, including two brothers and their parents during a March 15 incident. Gaza health officials report at least 50 Palestinian deaths by Israeli forces since the recent Iran conflict began, though child fatalities are unspecified. Earlier Israeli bombardments in Gaza over 23 months killed tens of thousands, including over 20,000 children by late last year, according to Save the Children, in what a United Nations investigation described as genocide.