Elder said a ceasefire is the only way to help the children and emphasized that the Gaza Strip “is not a place for children right now”.

“A war against children” is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, as hostilities have already claimed the lives of more than 10,000 minors, UNICEF spokesman James Elder said in an interview with the Anadolu news agency on Saturday.

“UNICEF called this ‘a war against children.’ Normally, in all wars, children are the most vulnerable. Around 20% of casualties are children in wars, but in Gaza, it is close to 40%,” Elder said, adding that more than 10,000 children have been killed, and this number continues to increase.

“We do not know how many are under the rubble. This is absolutely devastating for children. Many children are hungry, and a famine is imminent,” the UNICEF spokesman said.

‘Gone Forever’ – How ‘Saying Hi to Uncle’ Became another Gaza Massacre

There is a dire situation with medical supplies to the injured.

“More than 20 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are simply not functioning,” he added.

Elder said a ceasefire is the only way to help the children. He emphasized that the Gaza Strip “is not a place for children right now, but there are more than a million children” there.

Tears and Sand – The Gaza Mother Who Dug Her Son from under the Rubble

Gaza Genocide

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7. 

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 32,142 Palestinians have been killed, and 74,412 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip. 

And We Called Her ‘Dreams’ – Gaza’s Abu Sultan Family Lost All of Its Women

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children. 

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire.’ 

(TASS, PC)