Many of these children are trapped under rubble, detained, buried in unmarked graves, or separated from their families.
Over 20,000 Palestinian children are missing in Gaza as a result of Israel’s ongoing assault on the Strip, according to the international non-governmental organization Save the Children.
Many of these children are trapped under rubble, detained, buried in unmarked graves, or separated from their families.
In a statement on Monday, the UK-based charity described the challenges of collecting and verifying information under the current conditions in Gaza, where Israeli ground and air attacks continue.
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The organization estimates that at least 17,000 children are unaccompanied and separated from their families, and approximately 4,000 children are likely trapped under rubble, with an unknown number also buried in mass graves.
“Others have been forcibly disappeared, including an unknown number detained and forcibly transferred out of Gaza, their whereabouts unknown to their families amidst reports of ill-treatment and torture,” Save the Children said in a statement.
“Families are tortured by the uncertainty of the whereabouts of their loved ones. No parent should have to dig through rubble or mass graves to try and find their child’s body,” Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East Jeremy Stoner, said.
“No child should be alone, unprotected in a war zone. No child should be detained or held hostage,” he added.
69 Percent of Gaza Schools for Displaced Hit by Israeli Strikes – UNRWA
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, 37,626 Palestinians have been killed, and 86,098wounded 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.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly 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’.
(PC, Anadolu)
