Over 2,100 children killed or injured since escalation in Mideast conflict

More than 2,100 children have been killed or injured since the military escalation in the Middle East, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban said Monday.



"Twenty-three days into the escalating conflict in the Middle East, children across the region are paying a devastating price. A further descent into a wider or protracted conflict would be catastrophic for millions more," Chaiban told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.



The casualties included 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.



Alongside the dead and wounded, there has been rapid displacement across several countries, driven by relentless bombardment and evacuation orders that have emptied communities, he said.