Shafaqna English- Thousands of families from southern Lebanon packed cars and minivans with suitcases, mattresses, blankets and carpets and jammed the highway heading north toward Beirut on Monday (23 Sep 2024) to flee the deadliest Israeli bombardment since 2006.
The Israeli military continued striking south Lebanon and the country’s eastern Beqaa region overnight, a day after it launched a massive wave of air raids on Lebanon’s deadliest day in decades, which killed nearly 500 people and wounded over 1,600, including children.
In Beirut and beyond, schools were quickly repurposed to receive the newly displaced as volunteers scrambled to gather water, medicine and mattresses. In the coastal city of Sidon, people seeking shelter streamed into schools that had no mattresses to sleep on yet. Many waited on sidewalks outside.
UN: Tens of thousands have fled Israeli strikes in Lebanon
UNICEF raises alarm over escalating tensions after 24 children killed in Lebanon
The UN’s Children Fund (UNICEF) has expressed grave concern over the escalating violence in Israel and Lebanon, particularly following reports of attacks that claimed at least 24 children’s lives in southern Lebanon on Monday.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell expressed her deep concern in a statement over the escalating violence in Lebanon and Israel.
“I am deeply alarmed by the ongoing surge of attacks in Lebanon and Israel, which earlier today reportedly claimed the lives of at least 24 children in southern Lebanon,” she said, emphasizing that the intensified violence represents a “dangerous escalation” for civilians in the region.
Sources: ALJazeera, New Arab, Anadolu Ajansı