About 1.2 million people in Lebanon have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes, said UN officials on Wednesday.
While briefing the press on their recent visit to Lebanon, UNICEF's Deputy Chief Ted Chaiban and Chief Operating Officer of the World Food Program (WFP) Carl Skau highlighted the plight of these displaced people.
"In Lebanon, approximately 1.2 million people, men, women and children, have been displaced by this war. And that includes approximately 400,000 children. Nearly 190,000 of those have been forced from their homes into makeshift shelters and are hoping for a semblance of safety there. Mostly those are public schools, while countless others seek refuge with anyone who can offer a roof and a place to rest," said Chaiban.
The UNICEF official noted the "profound acts of solidarity" witnessed "across communal, sectarian and religious lines," but he warned that as fighting and displacement continues, this solidarity "will become stretched pretty quickly."
Chaiban also talked about the loss of education for Lebanese students, noting that most public school students are unable to access educational opportunities.
"The school year has started in Beirut for private schools, but the public schools are either inaccessible, largely destroyed or used as shelters. There's about 15 percent of the public schools that can be used, but the vast majority of them cannot now accommodate students. So, we need to find a way to work on the issue of education to avoid losing a generation," he said.
Joining virtually from Rome, Skau said many of the displaced "have lost everything because they know that their villages or towns have been completely destroyed," and he described the situation as "a real sense of desperation".
He noted that during their visit, the fighting escalated, and they could see the "over packed minibuses heading north, and we could hear the bombing."
WFP, he said, was ready for this and has been preparing for this over the past few weeks and months.
"We were able to quickly step up, working hand in hand with other partners like UNICEF and other organizations. We are now delivering daily to some 200,000 people with ready-to-eat food and cash. And we have the capacity to scale up to a million people," Skau said.
1.2 million Lebanese people displaced by war: UN officials
