The ongoing conflict in Gaza has had a devastating effect on children, with over 13,000 killed, about 25,000 injured, and at least 25,000 hospitalized due to malnutrition, according to United Nations reports.
James Kariuki, the UK’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, recently told the Security Council that Gaza has become “the deadliest place in the world to be a child.” He emphasized that children there did not choose the conflict but are suffering the most.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that of the 40,717 Palestinian deaths confirmed in Gaza, one-third—approximately 13,319—were children. This information was provided by Gaza’s Ministry of Health. UNICEF also stated that 25,000 children had been injured, a figure based on reports from Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Amina Mohammed, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, said that nearly 19,000 children had been admitted to hospitals for severe malnutrition in the four months before December. UNICEF, along with other UN agencies, collected this data.
Additionally, the conflict has left thousands of children orphaned or separated from their families, according to the UN.
Yasmine Sherif, executive director of the UN’s Education Cannot Wait program, reported that 650,000 school-aged children have not been attending school. She added that Gaza’s education system needs to be rebuilt due to widespread damage.
Diplomats from the UK, France, and other nations also highlighted the impact on Israeli children, many of whom were killed, injured, or abducted during Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Some remain held hostage.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon questioned the Security Council’s focus on Gaza’s children, pointing out the suffering of Israeli children. He mentioned the 30 Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas and the tens of thousands displaced by the ongoing conflict. Danon described the trauma of Israeli children as “beyond imagination.”
He criticized the Security Council meeting on Gaza’s children, calling it “an affront to common sense.” Danon accused Hamas of turning Gaza into “the world’s largest terror base” and using children as human shields. He argued that Gaza’s children could have had a brighter future, but instead, they are trapped in violence and despair because of Hamas, not Israel.
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