420 Children Killed Or Injured Every Day, UN: Gaza Becomes The Grave Of Thousands Of Children

JAKARTA - The Gaza Strip is now a cemetery for thousands of children, with hundreds of child victims killed or injured every day in the Palestinian enclave, the United Nations said, as deaths were increased from Israeli attacks and blockades.

Israel is known to have expanded its attacks on Gaza, exacerbated bombings and blockades on the region, following the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on their southern region on 7 October.

"Our biggest concern regarding reports of the number of children killed to tens, then hundreds, and finally thousands, materialized in just two weeks," said UNICEF spokesman James Elder, quoted by Al Jazeera November 2.

"The number is terrible, reportedly more than 3,450 children were killed, surprisingly this number increases significantly every day," he explained.

"Gaza has been the grave of thousands of children. This is hell for everyone," said Elder.

Meanwhile, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said at least 6,300 children were injured as a result of the Israeli attack.

"This means that an average of 420 Palestinian children are killed or injured every day in the Gaza Strip," he explained.

"These numbers should surprise us and shake us up," Russell explained.

The agency called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, with all crossing access to the Gaza Strip open for access to safe, sustainable and unobstructed humanitarian aid, including water, food, medical supplies, and fuel.

"And if there is no ceasefire, no water, no medicine, and no release of kidnapped children? Then we rush towards greater horror that befell innocent children," said Elder.

He added, according to figures from the health faculty in Gaza, about 940 children were missing.

Separately, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs Coordination (OCHA) Jens Laerke added: "It's almost unbearable to think of children buried under the rubble, but very unlikely or likely to get them out."

As previously reported, the number of children killed in the Hamas-Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, Palestine in the past three weeks, has more than the death toll of children in global conflicts around the world in the past three years, according to Save The Children.

Earlier this week, the agency said 3,324 children had died in Gaza since the Hamas attack on Israel's southern region on October 7, while 36 other children died in the West Bank.

"The number is very dire and with violence that not only continues but also extends in Gaza today, the more children are still at great risk," said Jason Lee, director of Save the Children for the Palestinian occupation region, as reported by CNN.

Save The Children, according to the UN Secretary-General's annual report on children and armed conflict, 2,985 children were killed in 24 countries in 2022, 2,515 killed in 2021 and 2,674 in 2020. In 2019, the United Nations reported 4,019 children killed in worldwide conflict.