Lebanese refugee children stand in a school courtyard in Sidon where they sought shelter. (Reuters)

CAIRO — The four-week Israeli war is carving its psychological scars on Lebanese children, many of them have lost their parents, relatives and friends.

"This affects our children in every way," Samaheh, whose house and properties have been destroyed in an Israeli air strike, told Britain's The Independent on Tuesday, August 8.

"They do not sleep, some cannot eat, some wake up crying. They have nightmares - my son wakes up and starts to scream."

Samaheh was evacuated from southern Lebanon with her two children, aged two and seven, her brothers and her mother.

They now share their living space with 350 other people in a school in the Beirut district of Achrafieh.

With the thud of non-stop explosions caused by Israeli bombardment and air strikes, Samaheh's children are being stripped of their childhood, growing curious to know how many civilians were killed, displaced and houses destroyed.

"We notice how the children are aware of what is happening. They hear the explosions and even my small son tells us to find the television, to watch what is happening," said the mother, who was just picking up her life again after the death of her husband last year.

Sama, a kindergarten teacher, said the problem is that the children "know too much."

"It's good the children play today, they can forget a little while, but their mind is still affected. Talk to them now and you will hear about the war, the ceasefire - it's in the back of their mind. They know too much."

Almost half of the estimated 1,000 people killed since the start of Israel's war on July 12 are children.

They make up one third of the 3,293 Lebanese wounded in the random Israeli bombardment, according to The Independent's count.

Normal Again

With playtime becoming something of a luxury, evacuated children are craving for the good old days when they were like "normal" children.

"Before, I used to wake up; I used to wash, I used to eat my breakfast. I used to play on my PlayStation and then I would go to school, or sometimes go to meet my friends and play football in the car park," Ali Younes, 15, recalled.

"I just want to go back to school and be normal again. If we're going to school, then maybe we can forget about the war."

Malak, 10, is hoping that, by the middle of August, it would be possible to resume classes.

"School should be here," she says. "What we need is to learn - if it doesn't happen soon, and if it is not organized, children will start to hate school."

Schools have turned into refugee camps for the 913,000 displaced Lebanese, including 300,000 children.

With the failure to enforce an immediate ceasefire, over Washington's opposition, it is not immediately clear when the displaced would be able to return to the devastated south, where everything, including schools, has been reduces to rubble.

Israel has flown 8,700 bombing sorties, destroying 146 bridges and 72 roads, according to The Independent's count.

Damage caused to Lebanon's infrastructure is estimated at $2 billion.

The Independent has launched a fund-raising campaign for the Lebanese children in cooperation with Save the Children, raising for far £50,000.