GazaHerald – Save the Children has released a statement warning that at least one Palestinian child has been killed every hour on average over nearly 23 months of war, with the number of deaths now exceeding 20,000.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, about 2% of Gaza’s child population has been killed since October 2023. Among these, at least 1,009 children were under the age of one, with nearly half born during the war and killed shortly after birth.
The statement highlights that at least 42,011 children have been injured, and the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities reports that at least 21,000 children have been left permanently disabled. Thousands more are missing, presumed buried under rubble from Israeli bombardment.
The ongoing famine in Gaza Governorate threatens over a million people, roughly half of them children, with 132,000 children under five at risk of death from acute malnutrition. Since the famine was officially declared on 22 August, at least 135 children have already died from starvation, including 20 in the past few weeks, according to the Ministry of Health.
Israeli forces have intensified attacks across the Gaza Strip, destroying 97% of schools and 94% of hospitals, with children seven times more likely than adults to die from blast injuries. Save the Children’s statement underlined that children’s bodies are more vulnerable to trauma and require specialist medical treatment tailored to their physiology and development.
“Our statistics are a shameful new low in a war characterized by a constant stream of attacks on children’s homes, playgrounds, schools, hospitals, and even by starvation by design,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe.
“This war is a cruel, depraved, and deliberate war on the children of Gaza and their future. The international community is doing nothing to stop it. If it does not act, we are facing the very real risk of the total annihilation of future Palestinian communities.”
The organization also called attention to the legal and moral obligations of the international community. “Atrocity crimes, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, have been committed in this conflict.
The International Court of Justice is now considering whether a genocide is taking place. All states have a legal obligation to prevent the crime of genocide and must act decisively before it is too late,” the statement said. Save the Children demanded an immediate and definitive ceasefire and unfettered access to deliver life-saving aid, emphasizing that children have enhanced protections under international humanitarian law, and compliance with these rules is mandatory. The statement concluded by urging all states to immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition used against children and civilians.
