An average of over 540 children have been killed every month in Gaza since the resumption of Israeli attacks on the enclave in March, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday, as the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned that its shelters have become “places of death” for civilians.
“In Gaza, UNRWA schools have become shelters for hundreds of thousands of people,” UNRWA said in a statement on the US social media company X according to Anadolu.
“People sought protection under the UN flag only for these shelters to become a place for death, including for too many children.”
“No place is safe for children in Gaza,” the statement added, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
UN agencies have warned of the devastating impact of Israel’s ongoing military campaign on Gaza’s children, as schools, hospitals, and homes are being relentlessly targeted.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, famine has killed at least 266 Palestinians, including 112 children, since October 2023, amid a worsening blockade and severe aid shortages.
Israel has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Jordanian Prime Minister Jafar Hassan on Tuesday called the so-called “Greater Israel” vision an “illusion,” stressing that Tel Aviv is “isolated” due to its “extremist” policies.
“We hear about visions and proposals that imply a perpetual war with no end, such as the illusion of Greater Israel entertained by extremist politicians in Israel,” Hassan said during a meeting in Amman with his Lebanese counterpart, Nawaf Salam, who arrived in the Jordanian capital early Tuesday for an unannounced visit.
He said Israel is “isolated and besieged because of its extremist policies.”
“The entire reality points to (Israeli) policies that deepen hatred and resentment as a result of ongoing massacres, and the peoples of the world and the region will not forgive them,” he added in his comments carried by the official Petra news agency.
On Monday, Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani accused the far-right in Israel of “threatening the region and undermining prospects for a two-state solution.”
“Greater Israel” is a Biblical term used in Israeli politics to refer to the expansion of Israel’s territory to include the West Bank, Gaza, Syria’s Golan Heights, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and parts of Jordan.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news channel that he feels “very attached” to the vision of a Greater Israel. He said he considers himself “on a historic and spiritual mission” which “generations of Jews that dreamt of coming here and generations of Jews who will come after us,” according to Anadolu.
Israel has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Amnesty International on Monday said that Israel is carrying out a “deliberate campaign of starvation” in Gaza after it published new testimonies of starved civilians.
“Israel is carrying out a deliberate campaign of starvation in the occupied Gaza Strip, systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life,” Amnesty International said in a statement as it published chilling new testimonies of starved displaced civilians.
It noted that the ongoing hunger and disease in Gaza is not an “unfortunate byproduct” of Israel’s military operations but rather an “intended outcome of plans and policies” that Israel has designed and implemented according to Anadolu.
“As Israeli authorities threaten to launch a full-scale ground invasion of Gaza City, the testimonies we have collected are far more than accounts of suffering, they are a searing indictment of an international system that has granted Israel a license to torment Palestinians with near-total impunity for decades,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, senior director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty International.
Pointing to the “catastrophic” consequences of Israel’s blockade and genocide for civilians, she noted that its impacts “cannot be undone” by increasing the number of aid trucks or “restoring performative, ineffective and dangerous airdrops of aid.”
“Palestinian children are being left to waste away, forcing families into an impossible choice: helplessly hearing the cries of their emaciated children pleading for food, or risking death or injury in a desperate search for aid,” Guevara-Rosas added, underlining that Israel’s deliberate and systematic campaign of starvation continues to inflict “unbearable suffering” on an entire population.
She stressed that most families in Gaza are “beyond breaking point,” warning that an “already catastrophic situation” could descend into even “deeper horror” if Israel proceeds with its plan of a full-scale ground invasion of Gaza City.
“The world cannot continue to pat Israel on the shoulder for trickling in aid and viewing these cosmetic measures as a sufficient response to its calculated destruction of the life of Palestinians in Gaza,” Guevara-Rosas further said.
She also urged the international community to uphold their moral and legal obligations to bring an end to Israel’s ongoing genocide.
“States must urgently suspend all arms transfers, adopt targeted sanctions and terminate any engagement with Israeli entities when this contributes to Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” Guevara-Rosas added.
Israel has killed more than 61,900 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
“Blood covered my face. My hair was burning. The fire in my hair was the only light I could see,” Tasneem whispered, recalling the night her world collapsed.
I can’t imagine an end to this war. I can’t even define the peace of imagining what it would look like, because war has stolen everything from Gazans, even the light in their eyes.
Just months earlier, 19-year-old Tasneem was preparing for her tawjihi, Palestine’s crucial high school exams that decide a student’s future. Like thousands of other students in Gaza, she dreamed of scholarships, university, and a life beyond the blockade. Instead, she was fighting to keep her eyesight, grieving her sister and father, and carrying her schoolbooks through displacement camps.
Her story is one among thousands. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Education, 15,553 school students and 1,111 university students have been killed since the genocide began. Another 23,411 schoolchildren and 2,317 university students were injured, many left permanently disabled. For Gaza’s youth, war has not only destroyed classrooms but also their bodies and futures.
The Night That Changed Everything
It was October 10, 2023, at 2:30 a.m. in Bani Suhaila. Tasneem and her sister Hadeel stood at the window when shelling lit up the street near the Asfour station.
“Suddenly, smoke, dust, and fire blinded me,” Tasneem said. “Blood covered my face. My hair caught fire. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t breathe. My hair burning was the only light around me.”
When she looked back, she saw Hadeel lying on the floor in flames. “That moment is the hardest I’ve ever lived through,” she said through tears.
Tasneem stumbled down the stairs as flames consumed the upper floor. Shattered glass cut deep into her feet. Her leg broke when she slipped. Outside, the sky glowed red and the streets burned.
“I sat on the street with my hands on my head,” she recalled. “I just wanted this nightmare to end.”
Tasneem, after her last surgery in Gaza — blind in one eye, barely seeing with the other.
Loss Upon Loss
Tasneem thought her entire family had died. Whispering the shahada, she braced for death. But her parents were alive, and in the chaos her mother tried to comfort her. “Mama, my face is all distorted. I can’t see, only blood,” Tasneem cried. Moments later, they discovered the unbearable truth: Hadeel had been martyred.
Her injuries were severe; a burst eyeball, retinal detachment, and deep cuts that required stitches. Gaza’s hospitals, overwhelmed and starved of resources, made her wait hours before doctors could treat her.
Just three days later, tragedy struck again. Her father, Adli Baraka, was killed in another Israeli strike. “I felt like I lost all my vision and hope,” she said.
The Fight for Sight
On October 11, a private doctor warned her family that her condition was critical. Without immediate surgery, she would go blind. With Gaza’s health system collapsing, the operation was performed without anaesthesia, crude stitches to hold her eye together.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza reports that around 1,500 people have already lost their eyesight during this genocide, while another 4,000 are at risk due to shortages of medicine and equipment. UNRWA has warned of catastrophic consequences as Israel continues to block vital aid, including supplies for eye surgeries.
For Tasneem, the pain was relentless. Doctors warned her not to cry, not to stress, not to strain her eye. But how could she obey, when she had just buried her sister and father, and was living under bombardment?
Dreams Against the Rubble
On November 3, 2023, after weeks of delays, Tasneem was finally evacuated to Egypt for emergency surgery. By the time she arrived, her right eye was blind. Surgeons injected silicone oil in hopes of saving her remaining sight.
Despite advice to stay in Egypt and continue treatment, Tasneem returned to Gaza. Her younger siblings were still there, and after her father’s death, she couldn’t abandon her mother. She gave up comfort and medical care to be with her family.
Tasnim Baraka after undergoing surgery on her eye in Egypt, November 2023. Her mother took this photo as they hoped for a chance at healing after weeks of devastation.
Now she lives in a tent, suffering headaches, worsening pain, and the weakening of her other eye. And yet, she studies. Every time she fled — from Bani Suhaila, then Rafah, then Deir al-Balah — she carried her schoolbooks with her.
“The doctors told me reading could make my eyes worse,” she admitted. “But I still took my books. They are my last hope.”
Her books are not just paper and ink; they are her defiance. In a genocide that has stripped her of almost everything, they are the one dream she refuses to surrender.
The Unseen Wounds of War
The physical injuries are only part of Tasneem’s struggle. Shame keeps her indoors. “When I wear the eye patch outside, I feel so ashamed,” she said. “I’m a young girl who wants to live like other young ladies.”
Her mother, Ghada, reminds her daily that she is beautiful, no matter the scars. But emotional healing is nearly impossible in a place with no safe spaces, no medical aid, and no support for trauma survivors. Every step of Tasneem’s recovery has come not from international organizations, but from her family’s sacrifice.
A Message to the World
When I asked Tasneem what she wants now, her answer was simple:
“I wish the war would end. I want the suffering to stop. I want proper medical care for my eye and to continue my education like other girls. I don’t want to lose my eyes — I need them as a child needs something with all of its heart.”
Tasneem’s story is one of tens of thousands. Gaza’s children are not just casualties of bombs; they are being starved, blinded, and denied the chance to learn. Her voice is a reminder that these are not numbers — they are young lives, interrupted but still fighting.
“Put yourselves in our place,” Tasneem said, her one good eye filling with tears. “You couldn’t live one minute as we do.”
An aerial view of Gaza City as the efforts to drop humanitarian aid supplies through parachute by military cargo planes into the city continues on August 6, 2025.
As evidenced from the freshly emerging videos and photos, Gaza’s physical landscape today resembles Hiroshima on the morning of Aug. 7, 1945, just as Israel’s mass killing of Palestinians of all ages is the direct, intended outcome by Israel’s planners of this “war for annihilation” of an entire Palestinian society mirrored by the near-total destruction of the physical infrastructure that sheltered the 2.3 million Palestinians at the start of the war on Oct. 8, 2023.
The vastly undercounted deaths of over 60,000 – of whom more than 16,000 were babies, and children – by the Gaza Health Ministry must be paired with the staggering number 377,000, a number presented by Dr. Yaakov Garb, professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev as “missing” Gazans (presumed dead and buried under dozens of tons of rubble of bombed out Gazan buildings).
Let’s also not forget that Israel had allowed Gaza to exist as its “open-air prison,” to use the term publicly uttered by retired Israeli Navy Adm. Ami Ayalon who also served as the chief of Shin Bet, or Shabek, which runs Gaza like prison guards, since 2007. That was the year when Hamas became the elected government of the 45-kilometer (28-mile) strip along the hydrocarbon-rich Mediterranean Sea, something Israel eyes with its characteristic lust for land and resources.
Chillingly, the common element here is that both Hiroshima and Gaza have been variously vaporized by American weapons.
Obviously, the estimated 80,000 tons of explosives delivered through Made-in-USA 500 and 1,000 kg bombs – all provided by bipartisan Washington – and dropped from F-35s almost daily and nightly over 660 days, could do a similar degree of physical destruction as then-US President Harry S Truman’s bombs did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Who needs atomic bombs to destroy Gaza?
Here worth noting is the fact that the American creator of history’s first-ever atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the German-trained professor of theoretical physics at the flagship campus of the University of California, in Berkeley, was capable of the painful and honest self-reflection that “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
Alas, there is absolutely no sign of such capacity for honest soul-searching amongst the American political leaders and their foreign policy advisors: the United States continues to be the destroyer of worlds – that is, other peoples’ worlds (wholesale societies, countries, and nations), from the Korean Peninsula to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to throughout the Muslim Middle East of Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and now Gaza and all of the occupied Palestine, as well as Latin America.
In the early autumn of 2016, I visited Hiroshima with an old British friend of mine, Professor Edward Vickers, whose father is a retired Royal Air Force pilot. Ed resides in Japan with his Japanese partner and their children. I was in Kyoto for a small international seminar on comparative cases of genocidal violence, where I presented my main research theme of my own “Buddhist” country’s genocide against Rohingya people, still ongoing to date.
I decided to take a long train journey from Kyoto to Hiroshima and asked Ed to join me at Hiroshima, a place we had both wanted to go. For me, Hiroshima has long had a personal ring: the extended American family (of two sisters, both of whom did their undergraduate degrees at Oppenheimer’s university when the man was on the faculty of physics) which practically adopted me as a young foreign graduate student in Northern California was entangled in the Manhattan Project. The older sister got a job at Los Alamos National Lab where the bomb was developed, specifically as Oppenheimer’s personal secretary. As a matter of fact, her boss walked her down the aisle at a small chapel established for the thousands of project workers as she fell in love with and married a young scientist working on the project.
If it weren’t for the name Hiroshima and our historical knowledge it triggers, we would see neither the traces of the old Hiroshima nor the evidence of the first atomic bomb’s impact on the physical and natural environment.
Israel’s genocidal patron, namely the leaderships of the United States, have shown an utter and complete lack of human empathy, conscience, or regard for the post-Hiroshima, post-Holocaust international law, which they helped create.
The United States has long become death, and destroyer of the worlds, while its corporate political class continues to celebrate its power of annihilation and seeks to send the message that they will continue to destroy the world, natural and human, in order to rule over it. George Orwell got one thing wrong: war is profit (for corporate masters of our universe), not peace. For that reason alone, I am not so sure that we can be optimistic about Gaza’s reconstruction a la post-war Hiroshima, even as a Trumpian dystopian riviera on the unmarked mass graves of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians exterminated in their extended families over two or three generations.
As Rev. Dr Munther Isaac, the renowned Palestinian theologian of Shepherd’s Field, Bethlehem, said in his recent address to the Churches for the Middle East Peace Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, US, the ongoing US-Israel’s joint mass extermination campaign against his fellow people in Gaza (and the West Bank) is the clearest indication of the total collapse of the current moral order of this post-Holocaust world.
In Isaac’s words, “Never again!” is really “Yet again!” while the Zionized Imperialists have integrated elements of both Auschwitz (closed on Jan. 27, 1945) and Hiroshima (destroyed on Aug. 6, 1945) in their annihilation of Gaza, both the physical environment and residential human population. Isaac continued: “The law (now) protects the perpetrators of genocide in Gaza while punishing those who oppose (this crime against humanity.”
In passing, I will point out that even the relentless attempts to deny, defy, and erase truths about the US and Israel by the planners, executioners and supporters of the genocide in Gaza have a precedent in the way the United States as the occupying military power in Tokyo handled the atomic bomb survivors’ attempts to document and tell the factual truths about what the Americans did with it in a single morning at 8.15 am on Aug. 6, 1945.
Fast forward to 2025
The destroyers of Gaza today see themselves as God’s chosen people with the divine right to perpetrate a Holocaust of their own against the largely Muslim population of Palestine, whose land they have stolen to build “the Jewish national homeland,” under the imperial patronage of first Britain and now the US. There are daily crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in Gaza by US and Israel over 660 mornings – and still counting.
So expect these two states to become even more shrill and extreme as they struggle to exterminate factual truths about their victim-livestreamed crimes against Palestinians, specifically, the bogus “antisemitism” laws as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) run by the Jewish Supremacist or Jewish Exceptionalist working for the genocidal state of Israel.
*The author is co-founder of the Forces of Renewal Southeast Asia and a Myanmar genocide scholar and a UK-exiled Myanmar dissident. His Opinions do not necessarily reflect Anadolu’s editorial policy.
CrossFireArabia
An aerial view of Gaza City as the efforts to drop humanitarian aid supplies through parachute by military cargo planes into the city continues on August 6, 2025.
