Israel has sunken to the depts of depravity in the mass genocide it wages in Gaza, Palestine. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has revealed that at least 50,000 Palestinian children in Gaza have been killed or wounded since the start of the Israeli Zionist regime’s military “assault” in 2023. According to a post on its official X account on Monday, the UN agency said that civilians, including children, humanitarian workers, medical staff, and journalists, continued to be killed and injured in Gaza amid the regime of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF)’s indiscriminate offence.
UNRWA’s statement comes as Israel’s army chief, Herzi Halevi, ordered an expansion of military operations in northern and southern parts of the enclave. According to an Israeli military statement, the aim was to “create conditions for the return of hostages and defeat Hamas”, though rights groups warn that the operations were contributing to mass civilian casualties and widespread devastation. The military also claimed it would set up new distribution centres for humanitarian aid – an effort international organisations have dismissed as ineffective and exclusionary. Israel has closed border crossings to humanitarian aid for more than 90 days, deliberately pushing 2.4 million people toward famine. A new Israeli- and US-backed aid mechanism launched last month, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has also come under fire.
The goal of the IDF in Gaza is not only to cripple all infrastructure and facilities of the Palestinians in Gaza but eradicate all family life and hope for the children of Gaza in general. The IDF may claim that its main concern in the enclave is the retrieval of the hostages but at the same time they wish to not only cripple Hamas but also to obliterate all means of hope for a future for the people of Gaza. The Palestinians are in a hellish quagmire concerning how far the Israelis go in trying to cripple their economy, way of life and economy. The threat of famine in Gaza will no doubt worsen the situation for the Palestinians in the coastal strip. The closure of the border crossings was a deliberate action on the IDF’s part to induce famine. It will be the children who the bear the brunt of these attacks.
The health ministry said 37 Palestinians were killed in the last 24 hours, with 136 injured. Many more remain trapped under rubble or in inaccessible areas as rescue teams struggle to reach them. Beyond the physical toll, Gaza is witnessing a mental health emergency, particularly among children. A recent study by the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme found that 70 percent of displaced children show symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Ten-year-old Lana Khalil Sharif, from Khan Younis, developed vitiligo and premature greying of her hair after surviving a nearby airstrike. Her mother told The New Arab’s Arabic language edition that doctors linked her condition to severe trauma. The girl has since become socially withdrawn and refuses to go outside.
In another case, six-year-old Malak Ahmed, who was born with autism, lost her father in an Israeli strike on Nuseirat. She has since developed serious health complications and now requires treatment unavailable in Gaza.
IDF and Netanyahu may leave no stone unturned in deliberately driving the people of Gaza mad with mental illnesses. The horrors of war can prove unbearable especially for children living in a narrow coastal strip. There is no end to the suffering, unless certain global powers pull the financial plug on the Zionist regime. In the end it is children like Khalil Sharif and Malak Ahmad who have to experience the risk of being made orphans who suffer from unforgivable conditions due to the onslaught of the Israeli military. The frightening part of it is war is the only thing they have known since their early years. The health conditions they have suffered stem from the war being fought by the Israelis against Hamas are terrible news.
The question remains: Who should take responsibility for these actions? Is it Hamas for having sparked the war with the attacks on the eight of October? The IDF for having closed the border crossings? Or Netanyahu for refusing to open channels for negotiations with Hamas for the release of the remainder of the hostages? In the long run it is the children of Gaza who suffer.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
