United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Saturday that more than 45 Palestinian children were killed in the Gaza Strip over the past two days, amid the ongoing Israeli aggression.
The agency warned that the Strip has become a “killing ground for children,” with no safe zone.
“Children are being killed and maimed in hospitals, schools, shelters, displacement camps, and even in the arms of their parents,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. He stressed that Gaza has become the most dangerous place for children in the world over the past 19 months.
He noted that more than 950 Palestinian children have been killed in airstrikes in the past two months alone, while those who remain face relentless bombardment and are deprived of food, water, medicine, and basic healthcare.
He warned that the blockade on humanitarian aid is significantly exacerbating the situation, adding: “The threats to children’s lives go beyond bombs and bullets… hunger, disease, and polluted water threaten their survival.”
Beigbeder emphasized that the violation of children’s rights in Gaza has become daily and systematic, calling for urgent international action to stop grave violations and ensure the protection of children from violence and loss of life.
He also renewed his call on the parties to the conflict to immediately cease fighting, respect international humanitarian law, allow aid access, ensure the protection of civilians, and release Israeli detainees.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with full American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, leaving approximately 173,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.
