Russia Is Ready To Help Evacuated Palestinian Children

Conditions in Gaza/UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION/Mohammed Ibrahim

JAKARTA - Russia is ready to provide assistance to children evacuated from Palestine, but so far there has been no official request for this, said Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.

Speaking at a meeting of the Commission for the Protection of Children's Rights of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Minsk, Belarus, Lvova-Belova said that she currently has no data on Russian children in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone.

"We have expressed our desire to support and help if needed... If anyone needs it, we have said this from the start, we are ready to get involved and we are ready to help," she said, as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, November 1.

The UN children's agency, UNICEF, on Tuesday voiced its concern over the increasing number of children's deaths in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, when Israeli-Palestinian tensions escalated into armed conflict.

On Tuesday, UNICEF spokesman James Elder said at a press conference in Geneva that Gaza “has become a graveyard for children” and “hell for everyone.”

This week, Israel has stepped up air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has been the target of sustained airstrikes since the Palestinian group Hamas suddenly attacked Israel on October 7.

Israeli air strikes in Gaza repeatedly target hospitals, residences, mosques and churches. Under the Geneva Conventions, hospitals are protected places and must not be targets of attack.

More than 10,000 people died in the conflict – 8,525 Palestinians, including 3,542 children, as well as 1,538 Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected international calls for a ceasefire.