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Lebanon Save the Children UK's partners are reporting that 45 per cent of those killed in Lebanon are children and of the 500,000 people who have fled to safety, some 200,000 are children. Save the Children is working hard to provide blankets, nappies and food to the displaced families. Humanitarian access to areas of Southern Lebanon is a massive concern. Already, travel between Beirut and southern Lebanon is difficult and dangerous. The combination of the risk of being caught up in the bombing and extensive damage to the infrastructure and supply routes make reaching those children most affected enormously difficult. If goods and supplies fail to reach the south, Save the Children is concerned that shops and hospitals could run out of essential supplies. Rana, 12, from Tyre, the oldest of four children in her family says, "On the first day of the war we bought some things, but the food supply is finishing and we are afraid that it will soon be gone. "We are deprived of many things here, even to leave our home. We hate war. My wish is that the war will finish because we are suffering a lot."
Gaza Mahmmoud Ahmad is Director of a Community Centre for children in Gaza supported by Save the Children. "The situation is devastating. The main problem is the power cuts and water shortages. Food security in homes is badly damaged because whatever stored food people have is easily ruined and so is the food in the stores. Rafah had a power cut for three successive days. Children are afraid to leave their houses due to insecurity and restrictions of movement. Any kind of help is needed in Gaza." Save the Children is concerned for all children affected by the current conflict, irrespective of where they are from or who their parents are. Children in Lebanon, Gaza and Israel are all exposed to the trauma and fear of violent conflict. Save the Children Chief Executive. Jasmine Whitbread is urgently calling for a humanitarian ceasefire. "People must be allowed to move to safety and reach hospitals. Humanitarian agencies must be allowed access to the children who, as always, are being hardest hit by this conflict."