PA accuses Israel of war against Palestinian children

The Palestinian Authority Information Ministry accused the Israeli occupation authorities on Monday of launching a war against Palestinian children, Anadolu has reported.

In a statement in advance of Palestinian Children’s Day on 5 April, the ministry said that the Israeli occupation forces killed 35 children and arrested 350 others during 2016. Furthermore, hundreds of Palestinian children were also forced to become vagrants after their houses were destroyed by the Israelis.

The statistics of children affected directly by Israel’s brutal polices are staggering. Between early 2000 and 15 February this year, the ministry pointed out, Israel killed 2,069 Palestinian children. “Palestinian Children’s Day,” it explained, “is a call for protection to be afforded to our children.” It cited the terms of the Convention on the Rights of the Child recognised in 1989.

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“Palestinian children need international protection and societal care to guide their future and afford the minimum rights recognised in the international conventions,” the statement added. “They need to be protected from being forced to leave school early and join the labour market.”

The PA ministry called for the relevant international bodies to prosecute the Israelis for its violations against children.

Official statistics show that 45.5 per cent of the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem are under the age of 18.