Almost half of the dead are children

[Karmadillo]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1211289.ece

A huge number of the victims of this war - the dead, the maimed and the dispossessed - are children. The figures are stark.

Of the 615 people so far confirmed dead, Save The Children says that almost half are children. They make up one third of the 3,225 injured, and about 45 per cent of the nearly one million Lebanese refugees are under the age of 18, according to Unicef.

But despite the shocking images and the harrowing accounts of suffering, there is an acute shortfall of money raised for the children caught up in the conflict. They need help now.

The Independent and Save the Children are launching an appeal for the children of Lebanon (see below), for urgent food, medicine and clothing desperately needed as the violence continues to escalate.

The UN and aid agencies say it is unclear why so many casualties in this particular war are children. Some have been victims of mass killings, such as the 37 who died in the Israeli bombing raid in Qana at the weekend that claimed 60 lives.

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1. This is so horrible

I read that when the air raids come, the adults will grab as many children as they can and run, but some children are left behind.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

2. Age structure of the Lebanese population.

From the CIA World Factbook:

Age structure:
0-14 years: 26.5% (male 523,220/female 502,372)
15-64 years: 66.6% (male 1,235,915/female 1,342,540)
65 years and over: 7% (male 122,155/female 147,848) (2006 est.)

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/le.html#People