More children have now been killed in Gaza over the past three weeks than perished in conflicts across the globe during any year since 2019.
That’s according to a report by Save the Children, a London-headquartered international children’s rights non-profit.
Per the charity’s figures, based on data from the Gazan and Israeli health ministries, some 3,195 children were reported killed in Gaza since the October 7 escalation, with another 33 perishing in the West Bank, and 29 in Israel, for a total of 3,257.
That’s far more than the number of children killed in any other armed conflict across some 20 nations throughout 2023, and the highest number since 2019, the charity says.
Indeed, according to annually published reports by the United Nations Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli crisis has been particularly devastating for the world’s youngest inhabitants.
Comparatively, some 2,985 children died in conflicts in 2022, 2,515 in 2021, and 2,674 in 2020. In 2019, 4,019 children were confirmed killed, mostly in conflicts and insurgencies raging across Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Myanmar, the Philippines, Palestine, Somalia, Mali, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan. 6,154 children were injured that year, with deaths and injuries attributed to fighting in urban areas, suicide bombings, air strikes, mines, IEDs and deliberate militant attacks on schools and hospitals.
Along with the fatalities, some 6,360 children in Gaza have now been maimed over the past three weeks, together with 180 in the West Bank, and 74 in Israel. Israeli media estimates that up to 30 children have been taken hostage by Hamas fighters and remain in captivity.
Children are estimated to make up over 40 percent of deaths among the 7,700+ people killed in Gaza to date, and about 3 percent of the 1,033 fatalities reported in Israel since the start of hostilities this month.
“One child’s death is one too many, but these are grave violations of epic proportions,” Save the Children Palestine director Jason Lee said in a statement of the Gaza fatalities. “A ceasefire is the only way to ensure their safety. The international community must put people before politics – every day spent debating is leaving children killed and injured. Children must be protected at all times, especially when they are seeking safety in schools and hospitals.”
United Nations Children's Fund spokesman Toby Fricker said in an interview Sunday that the overall "situation for children" in Gaza is "horrific," and that the scale of the humanitarian crisis is "staggering."
Israel and the United States have rejected efforts at the United Nations Security Council and in the General Assembly supported by Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa, Turkiye, Iran, Indonesia and other powers to introduce an immediate ceasefire. Last Friday, 120 countries voted in favor of an immediate halt to the fighting and humanitarian aid access for Gaza at the UNGA, with 14 countries, including the US, Israel, Austria, Croatia and the Czech Republic rejecting it, and 45 nations abstaining.