2,100 Palestinian Infants Killed in Israeli War on Gaza: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported that nearly 17,000 Palestinian children have been killed in the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, with nearly 2,100 of them being infants under the age of two.
The ongoing Israeli genocidal war has led to severe displacement, shortages of essential supplies, and widespread trauma for the children of Gaza.
“The number of Palestinian children – whether infants or children in general – killed by the Israeli army is horrifying, and the rate of their killing is unprecedented in the history of modern wars,” the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said in a statement.
The organization described the situation as a "dangerous trend" rooted in the dehumanization of Palestinians, stating that Israel’s military targets Palestinians and their children daily, “methodically, and widely in the most heinous and brutal ways possible, and virtually without pause for 10 consecutive months.”
According to the rights group, 1.7 million people in the Gaza Strip have been internally displaced, with half of them being children. The displaced population faces severe shortages of water, food, fuel, and medicine.
In July, UN experts warned that Palestinian children in the besieged territory were losing their lives due Israel’s "starvation campaign."
The ongoing war has led to numerous personal tragedies, including the case of Palestinian father Muhammad Abu al-Qumsan. On August 14, al-Qumsan was on his way to register the birth of his newborn twins when an Israeli airstrike killed both infants, his wife, and his mother-in-law.
“Five minutes after getting the birth certificate, I was getting their death certificates,” said the grieving father, 33.
The Qumsan family had been displaced three times since October, with his wife, a pharmacist, and the twins among at least 23 people killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes, including a nine-month-old baby.
Humanitarian organizations have warned that all children in Gaza have been exposed to the traumatic effects of the ongoing war. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) estimates that around 625,000 children have been out of school for an entire academic year due to the conflict.
In a post on X, UNRWA's chief, Philippe Lazzarini, emphasized the urgent need to restore education, warning that without it, children are vulnerable to "violence and exploitation, including child labor, early marriage, and recruitment by armed groups."
“We must bring children back to learning,” Lazzarini urged.