Children demonstrate in Lebanon against Gaza offensive
Thousands of children organized a sit-in on Tuesday in front of the UN headquarters in the Lebanese capital Beirut to denounce the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Aged between six and 13, the children gathered in front of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia building in the downtown area, responding to a call by the educational wing of the militant group Hezbollah which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006.
Some of the demonstrators carried fake rockets and machine guns as well as pictures of children presumably killed during the Israeli onslaught that began on December 27 in a bid to stop rocket attacks by the militant group Hamas.
They handed over to an ESCWAESCWA official a letter addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to halt the bloodshed.
Demonstrations were also held in Palestinian refugee camps in the south of the country.
"Arab leaders, are you all blind? The children in Gaza are dying of hunger! What crime have they committed to be massacred in such a way?" read one placard held up by protestors.
Demonstrations have taken place in Lebanon on a daily basis since the war in Gaza began.