Palestinian children are not safe, even in hospitals

An injured boy sits as displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses amid Israeli strikes, take shelter at a tent camp at a United Nations-run centre, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 30, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

According to Save the Children, over 3,195 children have been killed since Oct 7 in Gaza. Israel’s non-stop bombing and unrelenting attacks have wounded over 5,364 children as well. A child is dying in the Gaza Strip every 10 minutes.

Children make up about 50 percent of Gaza’s population of about 2.3 million. If the ground incursions intensify, over 1 million children may be at risk.

Children did not start this war, but they may be the ones worst affected by it.

Almost every child in the Gaza Strip has been exposed to deeply distressing events and trauma, marked by widespread destruction, displacement, and severe shortages of daily necessities such as food, water, and medicine.

A doctor examines a boy at a hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip on Oct. 23, 2023. ( The Yomiuri Shimbun )

Per reports, around 117,000 people have been displaced and are taking shelter in the ten hospitals still operational in the city. However, over the weekend, these hospitals have received “repeated evacuation orders.”

Fuel reserves are expected to run out in the next few days, jeopardising medical care and the ability of humanitarian workers to help those in need. Hospitals have been relying on generators to keep vital services operating.

"The incubators that are keeping babies alive right now depend on fuel," said Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director.

"At some point, it will run out, and I think at that stage, we can just imagine what will happen to those children. It is just a terrible situation for them.”

According to the UN, staff from the Shifa Hospital have said that the hospital has to perform emergency C-sections without anaesthesia due to the shortage of medical provisions amidst frequent power cuts.

A mourner carries the body of a child, during the funeral of Palestinians from al-Astal family, who were killed in Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip Oct 22, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Adele Khodr, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, has said, "The death toll will increase exponentially if incubators start to fail, if hospitals go dark, if children continue to drink unsafe water and have no access to medicine when they get sick.”

A ceasefire is essential. While Hamas and Israel fight, children continue to die. The world must step in and do what it can to minimise this tragic loss of life.

Reporter's age: 9 | Australia