The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) says more than 40,000 children have either been killed or injured following Israel's genocidal war and an all-out blockade of Gaza.
“Children are children. No one should stay silent when children die, or are brutally deprived of a future, wherever these children are, including in Gaza,” Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General for the UN agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
The UNRWA chief further highlighted that at least 17,000 children were left unaccompanied and separated from their families, and one million minors were deeply traumatized and out of education due to Israeli aggression.
"At least 100 children died of malnutrition and hunger," he added.
In recent months Lazzarini has repeatedly warned that the Gaza Strip has become a “graveyard” for children.
Since Tuesday, at least eight people, including three children, have starved to death in the territory, bringing the total count of hunger-related deaths to 235, including 106 children, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
At least 123 Palestinians, including 21 aid seekers, were killed and 437 injured in Israeli attacks across the besieged strip in the last 24 hours, the health ministry statement added.
The total number of aid seekers killed since May 27, when Israel introduced a new aid distribution mechanism through the US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has reached 1,859, with more than 13,594 injured.
Nearly 170 non-governmental organizations have called for the immediate discontinuation of the controversial Israel-US-backed GHF.
GHF has been tasked by the Israeli regime and the US government to "distribute aid" in Gaza since late May, when the regime partially eased its blockade after mounting international condemnation and warnings of imminent famine.
The developments come as Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and ex-UN high commissioner for human rights recently said that US President Donald Trump must realize that his country is the most complicit in the genocide in Gaza.
She made these remarks while visiting the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on Monday as part of a delegation from the Elders group of global leaders, founded by former South African president Nelson Mandela in 2007.
Israel’s aggression on Gaza has killed a total of 61,722 Palestinians and injured 154,525 since October 7, 2023.
Source:Websites
