CrossFireArabia
Spokesperson of UNICEF stated that Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip are most affected by the ongoing aggression. Children barely find food to eat amid the ongoing famine that has increased in intensity over the past 12 months.
CrossFireArabia
The ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza has caused catastrophic harm to Gaza’s children, with over 1,000 losing limbs; an average of 10 amputations daily, according to UNICEF and Save the Children.
The World Health Organization reported 26,140 severe injuries needing rehabilitation, including 3,100-4,050 amputations, mostly lower limbs.
The UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, confirmed that Gaza now has the highest number of child amputees globally, with many undergoing surgeries without anesthesia due to the healthcare collapse.
CrossFireArabia
At least 64 attacks against schools – almost two every day – were registered in the Gaza Strip last October, according to the latest data from UNICEF and partners.
An estimated 128 people were reportedly killed in the strikes, many of them children.
The attacks on schools in October – which largely serve as shelters for displaced children and families – bring the overall number to 226 such attacks since the start of the conflict last year. In total, over one million children have been displaced in the last 14 months.
Horrors
“Schools should never be on the frontlines of war, and children should never be indiscriminately attacked while seeking shelter,” says UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell. “The horrors we are seeing in Gaza are setting a dark precedent for humanity, one where children are hit with bombs at record numbers while looking for safety inside classrooms. Trauma and loss have become their daily norm.”
According to the latest estimates, nearly half of the attacks recorded in October – or 25 – happened in northern Gaza, where renewed intense bombardments, mass displacement, and lack of sufficient aid are pushing children to the brink. In addition to shelter, some of the schools also provide malnutrition treatment points for those in need.
Under International Humanitarian Law, schools are protected spaces. Yet, since the onset of hostilities in October 2023, more than 95 per cent of schools in Gaza have been partially or completely destroyed. At least 87 per cent will require significant reconstruction before they can function again.
Meanwhile, at least 658,000 school-aged children in Gaza have been disconnected from all formal learning activities, casting a shadow of uncertainty on their future; their lives overwhelmed by mental health distress, as well as increased risk of child labour and child marriage.
Attacks against schools, whether they are serving as places of education or shelter for the displaced, are a grave violation against children. UNICEF reiterates its call to all parties to end grave violations against children, and to end attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in line with international law. UNICEF also reiterates its call for an immediate ceasefire and the protection of all children and civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
“Every day this violence continues, more lives are shattered, and more futures are lost,” said Russell. “Parties to the conflict must respect International Humanitarian Law and safeguard schools and civilian spaces. Children must be shielded from harm, and their right to education must be upheld, even amidst conflict.”
UNICEF via Reliefweb
CrossFireArabia
More than 50 children have been killed in Israeli attacks on Jabalia in northern Gaza in the past 48 hours alone.
Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director, in a statement, condemned a “deadly weekend of attacks in North Gaza.”
This piece of news is trending on the social media with images of children who are killed by continual Israeli strikes.
Russell pointed out that a UNICEF staffer working on the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza was attacked on Saturday by a suspected Israeli quadcopter in Jabalia.
CrossFireArabia
More than 17,000 Palestinian children were killed since Israel begun its onslaught on Gaza soon after 7 October, 2023. The killing mounted as the days, weeks and months went by.
The latest number, which is trending on the social media, has increased in the light of the mass bombs dropped by Israeli warplanes, tanks and from the sea on the different areas of the Gaza Strip.
The latest figure, highlighted Sunday, was given the Government Media Office in Gaza, which carefully monitors the statistics of those that are being killed although its officials have previously the number could be much higher because of those people that are still under the wreckage which is estimated at more than 10,000.
“Around 25,973 Palestinian children now live in Gaza without one or both parents due to the Israeli aggression,” Ismail al-Thawabta, who heads Gaza’s government media office, told Anadolu.
He said at least 16,859 children, including 171 infants, have been killed in Israeli attacks since 7 October, 2023.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has repeatedly warned that “Gaza’s children have endured unimaginable horrors” under relentless Israeli attacks.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 41,600 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 96,200 others injured, according to local health authorities.
