GAZA — At least 19,424 children have been killed in Israeli attacks over 700 days of genocide in Gaza, the equivalent of one child every 52 minutes. Among the victims are 1,000 infants under the age of one. As relentless Israeli bombardment, forced displacement, and starvation continue, warnings grow louder: nowhere in the enclave is safe for children.
“Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres as early as November 6, 2023.
According to the latest death toll update by the Palestinian Health Ministry, children in Gaza account for more than 30 percent of the deaths as Israel’s genocide entered its 700th day on Friday.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said that no place is safe for children in the enclave. UN-run schools have become shelters for “hundreds of thousands of people” in Gaza amid constant Israeli bombardments that have levelled homes, UNRWA said.
Citing the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, UNRWA noted that in the past five months of the war, since Israel violated a ceasefire deal and resumed its assault, “an average of over 540 children have been killed every month, per reports”.
Meanwhile, women (10,138) and the elderly (4,695) constitute 23 percent of the overall death toll. Men make up 46.7 percent of casualties (29,975).
UNICEF communications manager Tess Ingram said that the “suffering of children in the Gaza Strip is not accidental”.
“Malnutrition and famine are weakening children’s bodies as displacement strips them of shelter and care, and bombardments threaten their every move,” Ingram said.
134 children and infants have died due to malnutrition and starvation since the war began, as Israel continues to block aid from entering the enclave, including food, medicine, and fuel.
According to the Ministry in mid-July, more than 900 children were killed by Israel before their first birthday.
Many were killed in their beds. Others while playing. Some were buried before they learned to walk.
Palestinian children have been killed at a rate of more than one child per hour during the Israeli assault. “Consider that for a moment. A whole classroom of children was killed, every day for nearly two years,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell told the UN Security Council. — QNN
