'War has aged us': Lebanon's displaced children struggle as Israeli bombing continues

BEIRUT: Displaced for the second time in just two years by yet another round of Israeli bombardment on Lebanon, 16-year-old Hassan Kiki says he feels far older than his age.

"War has aged us… We have lived through what no one else has," the tall teenager from south Lebanon told AFP in Beirut.

Kiki spoke of the deep personal losses he has endured, expressing how much he misses his school and friends.

"I miss my school, my friends… I lost two cousins and two friends in a massacre in Shehabiyeh," he said, referring to a deadly Israeli strike on his town that killed at least seven people on March 11.

Over a million displaced since March

Kiki is among more than a million people that Lebanese authorities have registered as displaced since the country was drawn into the wider Middle East war on March 2. On that day, Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel to avenge the assassination of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel, which never stopped bombing Lebanon despite a 2024 truce that sought to end the last round of fighting with Hezbollah, responded with widespread strikes, ground operations along the border, and an escalation of hostilities.

Children bearing the brunt

The toll of repeated displacement and violence has been especially harsh on Lebanon's younger population. Families forced from their homes have been living in makeshift conditions, with scenes of daily survival — such as cooking on camping stoves near tents — becoming commonplace among the displaced communities.

For teenagers like Kiki, the war has not only robbed them of their homes and loved ones but also their education, friendships, and the normalcy of childhood. Having mourned lost relatives and friends, the young Lebanese boy's words reflect a generation that has been forced to grow up far too quickly amid relentless conflict.

The situation underscores the devastating humanitarian consequences of the ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which have uprooted entire communities and left children grappling with trauma and loss on a scale that few their age have experienced.