Israel's war on Gaza has inflicted a catastrophic toll on children, with over 13,000 killed, approximately 25,000 injured, and another 25,000 hospitalized for malnutrition, according to U.N. agencies.
As Britain’s deputy U.N. ambassador, James Kariuki, recently told the Security Council, "Gaza has become the deadliest place in the world to be a child."
"The children of Gaza did not choose this war," he said, "yet they have paid the ultimate price."
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported Thursday that of the 40,717 Palestinian bodies identified so far in Gaza, one-third – 13,319 – were children. The office said Friday the figures came from Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
The U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, said the estimate of 25,000 children injured came from its analysis based on information collected together with Gaza’s Health Ministry.
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said nearly 19,000 children had been hospitalized for acute malnutrition in the four months before December.
That figure also came from UNICEF, which said it was from data collected by U.N. staff in Gaza focusing on nutrition, in coordination with all pertinent U.N. agencies.
The U.N. says thousands of children have also been orphaned or separated from their parents during the 15-month war.
Yasmine Sherif, executive director of the U.N. global fund Education Cannot Wait, told a press conference that 650,000 school-age children haven’t been attending classes and the entire education system has to be rebuilt because of the widespread destruction in Gaza.
Meanwhile, diplomats from Britain, France and several other countries also cited the toll on Israeli children during the Hamas incursion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 – with some still being held hostage.
