Rights watchdog: Israel kills 100 children every day in Gaza

Israeli forces have killed an average of 100 children every day in their bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip since 7 October, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory has said.

In a report issued yesterday, the group added that it documented the killing of 1,046 Palestinian children by 16 October, while it is estimated that there are 167 others under the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by Israeli attacks who have not yet been recovered.

According to the report, the Israeli bombardment has resulted in the injury of 3,250, including at least 1,240 children whose wounds require specialised medical care.

“They suffer the bitterness of pain, loss and the severity of wounds as a result of Israel’s intense attacks on residential neighbourhoods and civilian headquarters, in flagrant violation of child protection rules under international and humanitarian law,” it added.

The rights group also said the children of Gaza have been severely harmed since the start of the current Israeli attack, and have emerged as the first target of the ongoing “mass slaughter” against Palestinians, where lives have been lost, families torn apart and severe trauma inflicted on children.

“Children who had survived the killing, have either lost one or both parents, or their homes have been destroyed or damaged, or they were forced to migrate with their families to escape Israeli attacks, or for fear of forced eviction warnings,” it added.

The rights watchdog noted the documentation of hundreds of photos and video clips showing the “smashing of children’s heads, and shrapnel penetrating small stomachs and hearts, at a time when the scattered rubble of residential buildings destroyed above the heads of their residents smashed the bodies of hundreds of young children.”

It added that a large percentage of children in the Gaza Strip suffered horrific burns, shell wounds and loss of limbs, in addition to the psychological impact and terror, and were left without a safe shelter.

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