Save the Children’s Country Director for the occupied Palestinian territory, Jason Lee said that “for every day without a definitive ceasefire, 100 children on average have been killed.”
It is being argued that even if all the numbers of Palestinian causalities as a result of the Israeli war on Gaza are ignored, the plight of the Palestinian children in the devastated region on its own makes a strong case of why Israel is committed, or at least had the intent to commit genocide in Strip.
The latest statement by Save the Children further illustrates the point.
“The latest data from the Ministry of Health in Gaza shows more than 10,000 of Gaza’s 1.1 million children – or 1% of the total child population – have been killed since an attack on Israel on 7 October and the assault on Gaza that has followed,” the international charity said in a statement on Thursday, January 11.
The statement was issued on the day that the International Court of Justice began hearings into a South Africa legal case accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
“Children in Gaza surviving the violence are enduring unspeakable horrors, including life-changing injuries, burns, disease, inadequate medical care, and losing their parents and other loved ones. They have been forced to flee violence, often repeatedly, with no safe place to go, and face the terror of an uncertain future,” Save the Children reported, adding that “about 1,000 children in Gaza have lost one or both of their legs, many having them amputated without anesthetic, and will require a lifetime of medical care.”
Blocking Gaza Food Supplies to Have Lifelong Impact on Children – Save the Children
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, as of Thursday, 23,357 Palestinians have been killed, and 59,410 wounded in Israel’s ongoing war. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
Save the Children said that a record number of grave violations against children have been reported in 100 days of violence that started on October 7, including:
“370 schools in Gaza damaged or destroyed [UNICEF]
“94 hospitals and healthcare facilities in Gaza attacked [WHO]
“More than 1,000 Palestinian children lost one or both legs [UNICEF]
“Around 1.1 million children– the entire child population in Gaza – denied access to adequate humanitarian assistance.
“Abductions of children in Israel and 33 Israeli children killed [OCHA via Israeli authorities]
The war will have been ongoing for 100 days on Sunday January 14.
Save the Children’s Country Director for the occupied Palestinian territory, Jason Lee said that “for every day without a definitive ceasefire, 100 children on average have been killed. There can never be any justification for killing children. The situation in Gaza is monstrous and a blight on our common humanity.”
Lee added,
“For nearly 100 days, children have been paying the price for a conflict they have no part in. They are terrified, hurt, maimed, displaced. One percent of the child population of Gaza has already been killed by Israeli bombardments and ground operations. Others risk being killed by starvation and disease with famine coming ever closer. For children who have survived, the mental harm inflicted and the utter devastation of infrastructure including homes, schools, and hospitals has decimated their futures.”
Save the Children called for “a definitive ceasefire to save and protect the lives of children in Gaza and has called on the Government of Israel to allow the unfettered flow of aid and the resumption of entry of commercial goods into Gaza to prevent children from dying of starvation and disease.”
Everything You Need to Know about South Africa’s ICJ Case against Israel – LIVE BLOG & RESOURCES
(The Palestine Chronicle)
