GENEVA: Spokesperson of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), James Elder, warned on Tuesday of the frightening similarities between the war in Gaza and Lebanon, particularly in the sharp rise in the number of children killed by Israeli aggression. Speaking at a press conference in Geneva following his visit to Lebanon, Elder reported that 231 children have been killed in Lebanon in the past six weeks, an average of three children a day, and another 1,100 children injured. According to Kuwait News Agency, Elder emphasized that children are living in what he referred to as a silent normalization of horror, expressing hope that the international community would not continue to allow such levels of violence against children in Gaza or Lebanon. Elder noted other alarming parallels, including the displacement of hundreds of thousands of children in a very short period of time and the increasing number of "disproportionate attacks" targeting essential infrastructure, such as medical facilities, that childre n rely on. He stated that according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, these attacks have resulted in the deaths of more than 200 health workers and the injury of 300 others since November 15. Elder stressed that large-scale attacks by Israeli forces last weekend forced all schools in Lebanon to close again, undermining efforts to restore education to children. He noted that schools, once serving as centers of education, have now been transformed into shelters. Elder highlighted that the most disturbing aspect of the situation is the international community's silence on the escalating killing of children, stating, "once more, the cries of children go unheard, the world's silence grows deafening, and again we allow the unimaginable to become the landscape of childhood. A horrific and unacceptable new normal." He further noted that the UN Humanitarian Response Plan has only secured 20 percent of the funding needed, calling for an immediate end to the war and urging the provision of necessary assistance to Le banon.
