By: Aseel al-Akhras

RAMALLAH, November 20, 2024 (WAFA) - Palestinian children are among the most vulnerable victims of the prolonged Israeli occupation and its policies, whether in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, or Jerusalem. These practices have inflicted devastating consequences on the children and their families.

On World Children’s Day, observed annually on November 20, the plight of Palestinian children remains dire. They face relentless violence, including killings, displacement, starvation and abuse, in clear violation of their rights and direct defiance of the 1989 International Convention on the Rights of the Child. All of this unfolds amid shameful international silence.

Since the start of the occupation's aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, children have endured relentless atrocities. A total of 13,486 children have been killed, including 13,319 in Gaza and 167 in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) reports that at least 770 children have been detained by the occupation forces in the West Bank, according to available data and statistics on child detentions. However, there is no information on the number of children detained from Gaza since the war began.

According to available data, 100 children are currently held in administrative detention, including a 14-year-old, setting a new precedent.

The occupation has also re-detained at least nine of the 169 children who were released in the prisoner exchange deals of November 2023.

Since the onset of the war, the occupation has denied all families of detained children the right to visit them. Alongside suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, the children are now facing the additional nightmare of a scabies outbreak, particularly in the children's section of Megiddo prison.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, over 11,000 students have been killed in the Gaza Strip and 81 in the West Bank, with 19,467 others injured across Palestine since the start of the aggression.

The ministry also confirmed that 171 public schools in Gaza have suffered severe damage, with over 77 completely destroyed. In addition, 126 public schools and 65 UNRWA-run schools have been bombed and vandalized, while approximately 91 schools in the West Bank have also been damaged.

The ministry also highlighted that approximately 700,000 students have been unable to attend school due to the ongoing aggression in the Gaza Strip.

A statement published by UNICEF warned that the war in the Gaza Strip is having devastating effects on children and families, with children dying at an alarming rate.

An estimated 1.9 million people — nearly 9 out of 10 residents of Gaza — have been displaced internally, with more than half of them being children. These individuals lack adequate access to water, food, fuel and medicine. In Rafah alone, over 600,000 children are trapped with no safe refuge after their homes were bombed and their families were torn apart.

The international organization reported that the widespread destruction and damage in Gaza have paralyzed healthcare services across the Strip. This has been exacerbated by severe shortages in medical supplies and a significant reduction in the number of available hospital beds.

UNICEF warned of the spread of the polio virus in Gaza as an added threat, particularly to thousands of unvaccinated children, after Gaza had been polio-free for 25 years. 

Access to food has drastically declined, and starving to death has become an imminent threat to many families, stressed UNICEF. A report published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) in late June 2024 found that 96% of Gaza's population is experiencing severe food insecurity, with nearly half a million people in catastrophic conditions. The report warns that the risk of famine remains high as long as the conflict continues and humanitarian access remains restricted.

In this regard, the Palestinian Ministry of Health stated that 38 Palestinians have died from starvation, the majority of whom are children.

In a statement released by UNICEF on November 5, it was reported that Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, located in a heavily besieged war zone, has suffered significant damage due to recent violent airstrikes. The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)—the only one remaining in northern Gaza—was among the facilities impacted by these attacks.

It said that any newborn struggling to breathe in an incubator is utterly helpless, and fully reliant on medical support and specialized equipment to survive.

According to UNICEF, at least 4,000 infants were cut off from life-saving newborn care in the past year, due to relentless airstrikes targeting hospitals that were struggling to keep them alive. This crisis, exacerbated by power shortages and inadequate fuel supplies to sustain medical facilities, has severely hindered critical care efforts. The situation has been especially fatal in northern Gaza.

UNICEF reported that the destruction of three neonatal intensive care units in northern Gaza has resulted in a 70% decrease in the number of incubators available throughout the Gaza Strip, leaving just about 54 incubators to serve the entire population.

It emphasized that at least 6,000 newborns in Gaza require intensive care each year, with the actual figure possibly being higher. Before the start of the ongoing aggression, Gaza had eight neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) equipped with 178 incubators.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have continued their extensive onslaught on the Gaza Strip, attacking it by land, sea and air. This ongoing aggression has led to the killing of 43,972 civilians, with the majority being women and children. Additionally, 104,008 others have been injured.

Thousands of victims remain trapped under rubble or scattered on the streets, unable to be reached by ambulances and civil defense crews.

T.R.