More children killed in 21 days in Gaza than in conflicts across 20 countries in a whole year since 2019: Report

The health ministeries in Gaza and Israel indicate that the total number of children deaths have touched at least 3,257, with 3,195 children killed in Gaza, 33 in the West Bank, and 29 in Israel. And yet, the staggering numbers do not signal an end to the expanding bloodshed in the Palestinian territory.

Palestinian children standing amid rubble look on during a search for casualties in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on houses, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. (REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu)

In fact, with thousands now reported missing and assumed buried under rubble, the actual death toll in the besieged Gaza strip is estimated to be much higher, the NGO notes in its report.

Moreover, the scale of the unbridled violence being witnessed in the area becomes alarmingly clear when we contrast it with the loss of lives in armed conflicts elsewhere in the world, in the past few years.

According to the last three Annual Reports of the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, a total of 2,985 children were killed across 24 countries in 2022, 2,515 in 2021 and 2,674 in 2020 across 22 countries.

In light of the statistics, Save the Children’s Country Director in Gaza Jason Lee, said, “One child’s death is one too many, but these are grave violations of epic proportions. A ceasefire is the only way to ensure their safety. The international community must put people before politics – every day spent debating is leaving children killed and injured. Children must be protected at all times, especially when they are seeking safety in schools and hospitals.”

A woman walks with a child as displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses amid Israeli strikes, take shelter at a tent camp at a United Nations-run centre, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 30, 2023. (REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

The UNICEF, in a report, highlighted earlier that “almost every child in the Gaza Strip has been exposed to deeply distressing events and trauma, marked by widespread destruction, relentless attacks, displacement, and severe shortages of essential necessities such as food, water, and medicine.”

The toll on children of West Bank

The UN organisation also expanded on the devastation in the Palestinian West Bank, saying that there’s an “alarming surge in casualties, with nearly a hundred Palestinians reportedly losing their lives, including 28 children.”

Palestinian children play on a damaged street, following an Israeli raid in Jenin, at the Jenin refugee camp, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta)

“Even before the tragic events of October 7, 2023, children in the West Bank were already grappling with the highest levels of conflict-related violence in two decades, resulting in the loss of 41 Palestinian children and six Israeli children’s lives so far this year,” the agency said.

NICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Adele Khodr referred to the growing toll on children as “a growing stain on our collective conscience”.