More than 1.2 million people - a fifth of the population - have been displaced in Lebanon since 2 March due to Israeli airstrikes and forced displacement orders including 350,000 children.
BEIRUT, 26 March 2026 – One in every five children in Lebanon has been forced to flee their home in just one month as conflict in Lebanon and the Middle East and region triggers a mass wave of displacement, Save the Children’s Chief Executive Officer Inger Ashing said today.
During a visit to Beirut on Thursday, Ms Ashing met some displaced children and families and heard how the situation was rapidly reaching a breaking point with families forced to leave everything behind and many relying wholly on humanitarian aid after years of crisis.
More than 1.2 million people - a fifth of the population - have been displaced in Lebanon since 2 March due to Israeli airstrikes and forced displacement orders including 350,000 children. More than 1,000 people have been killed, including more than 120 children with a further 380 or more children injured.
Ms Ashing said children were bearing the brunt of the crisis, abruptly losing access to the safety of their homes, their schools, their friends and access to healthcare and other essential services. Many are frightened and facing severe emotional distress.
“No child should have to run for their life in the middle of the night. Yet in Lebanon today, it’s happening to family after family - children fleeing, terrified,” said Ms Ashing.
“Lebanon’s children are being pushed past their limits. They are exhausted, traumatised, and losing the very foundations of childhood. The world cannot look away - we need action, and we need it now.”
Across Lebanon, people - many displaced for the second time in two years - are now staying with friends and relatives, while some have no choice but to sleep on the streets or are crowding into some of about 660 collective shelters, including about 470 schools turned into temporary housing.
While visiting Beirut, Ms Ashing met 20-year-old Wafaa* who described the fear of leaving home in eastern Lebanon with her four family members as explosions echoed in the distance following a displacement order.
"I want to achieve my dreams. I want to live in Lebanon and grow up like all children and young people around the world without war." Wafaa* told her.
Many families fled their homes with little more than the clothes they were wearing. Some children arrived at shelters clutching a single treasured item: a worn teddy bear, a school backpack, even a family pet - symbols of the lives they were forced to leave behind.
One mother living in a shelter with her four children after fleeing their home three weeks ago said her children were struggling to cope and their contact with other children was critical.
Save the Children staff have set up child activities in some of the shelters, with many children drawing pictures of houses, trees and flowers from their villages and telling staff they want to home. Some older children are playing football or basketball to pass the time.
“Every aspect of their lives has changed - even their education. There’s no longer a sense of structure or routine. But here, even for a short time, they find moments of joy with the other children, and through these activities they receive much-needed psychological and emotional support,” she told Ms Ashing in the shelter.
This escalation has forced many children out of school for the 6th year in a row. Some children have been displaced back to the same schools where they sheltered during the 2024 escalation. Few have access to online learning.
“This is not just a displacement crisis - this is a childhood crisis,” said Ms Ashing. “Classrooms should be filled with learning not used as sanctuaries from airstrikes. We urgently need increased funding and immediate action to ensure they are protected, supported, and given a real chance to recover.”
Save the Children is also providing emergency supplies in Lebanon including food, water, hygiene kits, and psychosocial support to children and their families. However, the organisation has warned that needs are rapidly outpacing available resources.
Save the Children is calling for an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians, especially children, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all affected areas, and increased international funding to meet the growing needs of displaced families.
Save the Children has worked in Lebanon since 1953. Since October 2023, we have scaled up our response in Lebanon, supporting displaced Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian children, and families.
NOTES TO EDITOR
- The current population of Lebanon is 5.8 million according to the UN’s World Population Prospects. Latest figure displaced is 1.2 million, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Social Affairs.
- Children under 18 make up 31% of the population, according to the same UN source above, so about 1.8 million children
