|PIC1|Christian aid agency World Vision has called on world leaders to remember the children left behind to confront the horrors of war in Lebanon as hundreds of Britons were evacuated from the war-torn country in the last few days.

At least 20 children in Gaza have been killed since 1 June, adding to the 121 Israeli and 734 Palestinian children killed since September 2000. In the recent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, more than 200 civilians have died and over 400 have been injured – approximately 30% of whom are children.

World Vision warned the violence and destruction of infrastructure in Lebanon and Palestine had left children vulnerable to potential outbreaks of disease and increased levels of malnutrition.

"In Gaza, our staff confirm reports from UNICEF and other international bodies that describe the severe psychological and physical stress children are experiencing. We are seriously concerned that the destruction of infrastructure and impediments on freedom of movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza could lead to outbreaks of water-borne and other diseases,” said Allyn Dhynes, Advocacy, Peacebuilding and Communications Manager for World Vision Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza.|TOP|

It also warned that children in Palestine, Lebanon and Israel were facing potential physical threats and lasting psychological trauma as a result of the conflict.

"World Vision has worked in the Middle East for more than 30 years and we have seen time and again the damage such conflict does to the youngest civilians," said Ruba Khoury, Head of Programmes for World Vision Lebanon.

"Those who escape physical injuries or maiming often do not escape psychological and emotional trauma. No child, whether living in Israel, Lebanon or Palestine, should have their rights to protection ignored – especially in times of war."

The fighting has impeded World Vision’s efforts to bring aid and support to the civilian victims. "World Vision programmes benefit thousands of children in Gaza and Lebanon and has done so for three decades," said Allyn Dhynes, Advocacy, Peacebuilding and Communications Manager for World Vision Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza.

"But currently our staff are struggling to reach where they are needed because of the fighting.”

|AD|The aid agency also expressed its concern for the protection of the rights of Israeli children and the physical and psychological impact that rocket attacks will have on children in northern Israel and those north of the Gaza Strip.

In the press release, World Vision stated that only a “swift, peaceful resolution” to the crisis would limit the damage done to the children.

It also said that the leaders of the parties involved in the conflict must take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children affected by an armed conflict and that they should be made accountable for any failure to ensure such protection.

"It is not enough for the international community simply to call for restraint – key actors must put urgent and unrelenting pressure on all sides to end the violence, especially attacks against civilian targets,” Ruba Khoury from World Vision Lebanon says. “And once a ceasefire is secured, efforts must continue to address the causal factors in these conflicts."

World Vision has already earmarked more than £300,000 in medical and other humanitarian supplies to provide for the basic needs of children and families in Gaza and Lebanon where infrastructure has taken the most severe hammering.

World Vision Jerusalem-West Bank-Gaza National Director, Charles Clayton, said: "It is paramount that there be an immediate ceasefire that will allow the humanitarian space for delivering crucial humanitarian assistance to provide for the most vulnerable who have been affected by the violence.

He added: "For the sake of all the children in that region, we are calling on those in power to end hostilities, negotiate an end to the crisis and ensure that children are protected at all times."