The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said, “This war is a war against children.”
Geneva:
More children have reportedly been killed in Gaza’s raging war than in four years of conflict around the world, the head of the United Nations’ Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday.
Philippe Lazzarini said on The number of children killed is even higher.”
Shocking.Child deaths reported in just over 4 months #gaza More children than have been killed in four years of war around the world combined.
This war is a war on children. This is a war on their childhood and their future.#ceasefireimmediately for… pic.twitter.com/tYwSNHecpy
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) March 12, 2024
His post cited United Nations data showing that 12,193 children were killed in conflicts globally between 2019 and 2022.
It compared the figure with a report from the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry showing more than 12,300 children died in the Palestinian territory between October last year and the end of February.
“This war is a war against children. This is a war against their childhood and their future,” Lazzarini said.
According to AFP statistics based on official Israeli statistics, this brutal war began with an unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7, which resulted in the death of approximately 1,160 people in Israel, most of them civilians.
The militants also took about 250 hostages, dozens of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes about 130 prisoners remain in Gaza, 32 of whom are presumed dead.
According to the Gaza Strip’s health ministry, Israeli retaliatory bombings and ground offensives have killed 31,184 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
