What is happening in Lebanon?
Since the beginning of March 2026, conflict in Lebanon has escalated. Over 2,000 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, including at least 160 children. That's 160 children missing from the playground, the classroom, the dinner table.
Over 6,500 people have been injured, including at least 640 children.
This comes as part of the escalating violence in the wider Middle East region. While we welcome the recent ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran, reports that this excludes Lebanon are extremely concerning.
Children in Lebanon are once again paying the highest price of violence and instability.
A prolonged humanitarian crisis
Lebanon was already facing a prolonged humanitarian crisis, with children still rebuilding their lives from war that stopped in 2024.
In recent weeks, over 1.2 million people, including more than 350,000 children, have been forced to leave their homes for the second time in two years.
Forced to seek safety wherever they can find it, children's lives have been upended again, their rights hanging in the balance.
They have endured unimaginable suffering — killed, injured and displaced, cut off from food, healthcare and education, and exposed to trauma no child should ever experience. Many have lost family members or have been separated from their families.
Parents like Khadijah, a 50-year-old Lebanese mother, described the nightmare they had already been through when bombs started falling again:
"As a parent, I wanted to shield my children from all of it," says Khadijah. "But the truth is, I could barely handle it myself. So how could they? We're trying to get back on our feet, but it's not easy. My children are the ones suffering the most, even though they try to hide it. All they wanted was to go home and sleep in their own rooms, even if the windows were shattered and everything was nearly ruined."
Now, their future is uncertain again.
With the support of Humanitarian Coalition Canada, Save the Children in Lebanon is providing winterization and hygiene kits to families in Baalbak, Eastern Lebanon, who have been displaced due to the Lebanon-Israel Conflict. This assistance is crucial in helping families stay warm, protected, and maintain basic hygiene during the harsh winter months.
How Save the Children is responding
Save the Children arrived in Lebanon in 1953 and we’ve been there ever since, tackling problems in education, child protection, livelihoods and shelter.
When conflict escalated in 2024, we mobilised immediately, reaching 311,069 people across Lebanon - including 131,107 children - with life-saving support and services to help families recover.
Thanks to our nationwide presence and links with local partners, we have been able to deliver lifesaving support once again to children and families caught up in the current conflict.
We have distributed hygiene kits, baby kits, female dignity kits, bottled water, and items such as mattresses, blankets, and pillows. We've also been scaling up how we can help children access education, and ensure water, sanitation, and shelter is in place for children forced to flee.
On 8 April, after massive Israeli airstrikes on densely populated areas in Beirut and across Lebanon, our child protection teams were immediately mobilised to support identification and reunification of children and their families, while also responding to calls from families searching for their children.
In the meantime, we are urgently calling for a definitive, region-wide ceasefire, including in Lebanon, to protect children from further harm.
They deserve the same safety and protection as children anywhere in the world.
Wars have laws and children must be off limits.
Students gather during a back-to-school event in a school in South Lebanon. Save the Children, with support from Dubai Cares, is leading activities that help children ease into the new academic year, reconnect with their classmates, and feel confident as they return to the classroom.
Why continued support matters
With a new wave of conflict impacting a country that was already trying to recover from widespread violence and destruction, it will take a long time for Lebanon to heal.
Children who have lived through or are living through conflict need ongoing support to process and rebuild, witnessing violence, losing loved ones or spending months displaced from home. Some families may not even have a home to return to.
But children are resilient when given the right support. Every family we support brings Lebanon's children one step closer to the futures they deserve.
Save the Children has worked in Lebanon since 1953. We're committed to supporting Lebanese children through this crisis and beyond, continuing the work we started alongside communities and local partners to build a more stable future for all children growing up there.
Our work in Lebanon
Data reflects Save the Children's response from September 2024 to September 2025.
Supporting children's mental health and protection
The psychological scars of conflict run deep. Through our child protection programmes, we've provided mental health and psychosocial support to 2,791 children and 998 adults. In safe spaces across Lebanon, children who experienced trauma can play, express themselves and begin healing through activities designed by trained staff.
When schools reopened in 2024, we welcomed children back with special programmes to help them reconnect with friends and ease into learning again. Only an end to violence can ensure children can continue their education today.
Ensuring access to clean water and sanitation
Access to clean water became critical during displacement and as families returned to damaged communities. We've reached 154,217 people - including 60,411 children and 93,806 adults - with water, sanitation and hygiene support. This includes distributing hygiene kits, repairing water systems and ensuring families in shelters and temporary accommodation have safe sanitation facilities.
Meeting basic needs with food and nutrition
Families who lost income during months of displacement struggled to afford even basic necessities. We've supported 77,274 people - 27,904 children and 49,370 adults - with food security assistance to help families meet their immediate needs while working to rebuild their lives.
Through nutrition programmes, we've reached an additional 26,500 people (10,335 children and 16,165 adults) to address malnutrition and ensure children receive essential nutrients during this critical recovery period.
Keeping education going
For the sixth consecutive year, Lebanon's children have seen their education interrupted. We've reached 20,048 people - including 17,495 children and 2,553 adults - with educational support. This includes providing learning materials, supporting teachers and creating opportunities for children to continue learning even when formal schooling was disrupted.
Providing shelter and essential items
When families fled with nothing or returned to damaged homes in 2024, basic items became urgent necessities. We provided 29,241 people - including 12,171 children and 17,070 adults - with shelter support and essential items such as mattresses, blankets and household supplies.
We're now scaling up our response once more, to ensure displaced families have the essentials they need.
