March 24, 2026 | 05:11 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - More than 2,100 children have been killed or injured since the war broke out in the Middle East, said Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on Monday, March 23, 2026.
“Twenty-three days into the escalating conflict in the Middle East, children across the region are paying a devastating price," Chaiban told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.
According to Chaiban, a further escalation of the conflict would be "catastrophic for millions more."
The casualty figures include 206 children killed in Iran, 118 in Lebanon, four in Israel, and one in Kuwait, he said.
"That is an average of approximately 87 children either killed or injured every day since the beginning of the war," Chaiban said, as quoted from Antara on Tuesday, March 24.
In addition to the deaths and injuries, there has been a massive displacement in several countries, triggered by relentless bombing and evacuation orders that have emptied many communities.
In Iran, the UN Refugee Agency estimates that up to 3.2 million people have been displaced, including up to 864,000 children, while in Lebanon more than 1 million people have been displaced, including around 370,000 children, Chaiban said.
According to Chaiban, across the Middle East, approximately 44.8 million children were already living in conflict-affected environments before the escalation occurred.
Speaking about his recent visit to Lebanon, Chaiban said that what he saw there and what is currently unfolding across the region "requires the full attention and a clear, collective response."
In Lebanon, more than 350 public schools have been converted into shelters, disrupting the education of approximately 100,000 students. Public services are also under severe strain, with the water system damaged and healthcare workers killed while attempting to save residents.
Chaiban warned that although UNICEF has reached 151,000 internally displaced people in over 250 shelters and in remote areas with essential non-food items and provided water and sanitation support in 188 shelters serving approximately 46,000 people, the scale of needs is “increasing faster than available resources.”
"We remind all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law," Chaiban said.
He also cited the UN Secretary-General’s statement that “we need de-escalation and a political way forward to this war.”
The military escalation in the region was triggered by a series of joint US-Israel attacks on Iran on February 28. Iran has retaliated by targeting Israel and US military assets across the Gulf countries.
Read: Iran War: Assassinations Leave Little Room for Negotiation
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