Intel body: More than 22,000 children killed in Gaza since beginning of genocide, hundreds of thousands are at risk of starvation

The International Commission for Supporting the Rights of the Palestinian People (ICSP) confirmed, in a new fact sheet issued Saturday, entitled “Israeli Violations Against Children in the Gaza Strip Over the Past Two Years,” that more than 22,000 children in the Gaza Strip have been killed over the past two years as a result of direct Israeli bombing that targeted homes, schools, and shelters.

In a statement, the international body said that the paper, prepared by lawyer Reem Mahmoud Mansour, revealed shocking figures that illustrate the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe children have been experiencing in the Gaza Strip since the Israeli enemy launched the war on October 7, 2023, which is “the bloodiest war against children in modern history.”

It stated that approximately 12,000 children remain missing, most of whom are believed to be under the rubble. More than 40,500 children have sustained varying degrees of injuries, including more than 4,800 who have suffered permanent disabilities. Approximately 56,320 children have been orphaned, having lost one or both parents.

According to the fact sheet, more than one million children have been forcibly displaced from their homes to camps lacking the most basic necessities of life. Meanwhile, 12,000 children under the age of five suffer from severe malnutrition, including more than 600 critical cases requiring immediate treatment outside the Strip.

It reported that 650,000 children are at risk of starvation due to the blockade and the denial of essential food supplies, primarily infant formula. It is estimated that more than 40,000 infants are at risk of starvation due to the lack of milk.

Hashd indicated that the Israeli enemy’s crimes were not limited to killing and starvation, but even extended to newborns. More than 12,000 pregnant women lost their fetuses, and the abortion rate increased by 300%. Additionally, 1,640 premature births and 200 cases of deformity were recorded for every 1,000 births, which is five times the global average.

Regarding the right to education, the paper indicated that the Israeli enemy completely destroyed more than 163 educational and academic facilities, while 388 schools and universities were severely damaged, depriving 785,000 students of their basic right to education and transforming dozens of schools into overcrowded shelters.

The paper addressed the catastrophic psychological dimensions, explaining that 80% of children suffer from nightmares and sleep disturbances, 96% feel imminent death, and 92% suffer from severe psychological trauma as a result of the loss of their families and homes, and constant exposure to bombing and fear.

The International Commission emphasized in its paper that these violations constitute grave breaches of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, noting that what the children of Gaza are being subjected to constitutes a flagrant violation of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

It added that the Israeli enemy, as an occupying power, bears full legal responsibility for these crimes, considering that the targeting of children, schools, and hospitals, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war, constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under Article (8) of the Rome Statute.

In concluding the paper, the International Commission (Hashd) emphasized that what is happening to Palestinian children in Gaza represents an existential threat to the future of Palestinian society, calling on the international community to take urgent action beyond verbal condemnation and to take practical measures to ensure the protection of children and hold Zionist war criminals accountable.

It noted that the children of Gaza are paying the heaviest price for the ongoing two-year Israeli war, and that international silence on these crimes constitutes implicit complicity in the continuation of the genocide.

The group called on the international community, the United Nations, and international justice institutions to take immediate action to halt this humanitarian tragedy and save the remaining generation of children in the Gaza Strip.