Over three weeks into the escalating US–Israeli war in the Middle East, children across the region are paying the heaviest price, UNICEF has warned.

More than 320 children have been killed across Iran and Lebanon since the war began in late February 2026. Hundreds more have been injured and tens of thousands displaced, robbing kids of their homes, education and any sense of normalcy. 

In Lebanon alone, the toll has been described as the equivalent of “one classroom of children” killed or wounded every day. The UN children’s agency warns that “a wider or protracted conflict would be catastrophic for millions more.”