Since the dramatic escalation of the conflict in late September 2024,  Lebanon is witnessing its deadliest period in a generation, affecting every sector of society.

As many as 1 million people, including 350,000 children, are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance in Lebanon.

Over 8,408 people have been injured and 1,600 people have been killed, including more than 104 children, 194 women, and two UN staff (as of 30 September). Countless more children and families are in danger, exposed to ongoing attacks.

The violence has displaced over 246,000 people, almost half of them children. 

The catastrophic escalation in hostilities comes against a backdrop of a multi-layered governance, economic and financial crisis. Lebanon continues to host 1.5 million Syrian refugees, 23,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria, and 180,000 refugees from the State of Palestine.

As many as 3.3 million people, including 1.7 million children, are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance across the State of Palestine.

Nearly 2 million Palestinians have been displaced and over 41,000 people have been killed since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, including more than 14,100 children.

Acute threats to children in Gaza include malnutrition, disease, access to safe water, sanitation, and mental health. After 25 years being polio-free, poliovirus has re-emerged in Gaza in recent months. Famine-like conditions are threatening the lives of children in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Almost all of Gaza’s children need mental health and psychosocial support due to ongoing exposure to violence, with particular concerns for children who are exposed to repeated traumatic events, have been maimed, have lost parents and close family members, and children with disabilities.

UNICEF has been supporting children and families on the ground in Lebanon and in the State of Palestine for decades.

The sheer scale of our infrastructure and long-term development work for children means that we are uniquely positioned to respond rapidly and effectively to these crises.

With a vast global procurement and distribution network, including the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world, UNICEF is equipped to respond rapidly with lifesaving supplies and support.

Sustainable interventions are important because crises are not one-time shocks; their impact can last for years. UNICEF’s humanitarian action takes a cross-sectoral approach that includes health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), child protection, education, psychosocial support.

Non-political and impartial, we are never neutral when it comes to defending children’s rights and safeguarding their lives and futures.

And we never give up.

Humanitarian action is central to UNICEF’s mandate

In conflict and disaster, children suffer first and suffer most. During emergencies and humanitarian contexts, children are especially vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and violence. Children living in conflict areas are worst off – they are more likely to be living in extreme poverty, for instance, or not enrolled in primary school.

The chaos and insecurity of war threatens or destroys access to food, shelter, social support and health care, and results in increased vulnerability in communities, especially for children. UNICEF focuses on these children and their families to provide them with the essential interventions required for protection, to save lives and to ensure the rights of all children, everywhere.

UNICEF also works to strengthen the links between humanitarian action and development work. Our presence in many countries before, during and after emergencies, delivers a continuum of support. For example, the rehabilitation and upgrade of water and sanitation systems serve vulnerable households in both the immediate crisis and the longer term.