Gaza (Union)
An international relief organization announced that about 21,000 children in the Gaza Strip remained under the rubble, were arrested, or were buried in unknown or mass graves.
A statement by Save the Children yesterday said that the number of children separated from their families has increased due to the escalating Israeli attacks on the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, and that those who protect unprotected children are under pressure. She pointed out that about 17,000 children were separated from their families or went missing in Gaza, and about 4,000 children are still under the rubble or in mass graves or unknown graves.
The organization confirmed that an unknown number of children had been arrested and indicated the possibility of their removal from the Gaza Strip. She pointed out that “the bodies of those who were buried under the rubble or burned to death in tents during the Israeli attacks have become difficult to identify.”
The organization’s regional director in the Middle East, Jeremy Stoner, said, “It is torture for families not to know the whereabouts of their loved ones.”
He added: “No parent should dig through rubble or mass graves to find their child, and no child should remain alone and unprotected in a war zone.” Stoner likened Gaza to a “children’s cemetery,” reminding that the danger to living and missing children still continues.
He stressed the need for an urgent ceasefire to find the missing children and reunite them with their families if they are alive.
Since October 7, Israel has been waging a war on Gaza, leaving more than 123,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, in addition to thousands missing. In a related context, the World Health Organization transferred 6 sick children from the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, north of the Strip, to the city of Khan Younis in the south of the Strip, in preparation for transferring them to receive treatment in hospitals outside the Palestinian territories. The health system in Gaza has collapsed under the weight of restrictions and war. The children suffer from various diseases, including cancer, and their health condition is critical, according to one of the paramedics transporting them. The children arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, and are expected to leave the Strip within the next two days.
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