More than 100 children have been killed every day since Israel started bombing the besieged Palestinian enclave on October 7
\nKhan Younis
\nOne child is killed every 15 minutes in the Israeli bombings of Gaza, according to a Palestinian NGO, highlighting the toll the current war has exacted on children.
\nMore than 100 children have been killed every day since Israel started bombing the besieged Palestinian enclave on October 7 in the wake of the deadly Hamas attack. More than 3,400 Palestinians have been killed in the deadliest Israeli assault in decades.
\n\u201cWe are witnessing a genocide in real time,\u201d a spokesperson for The Defense for Children International \u2013 Palestine (DCIP) said.
\nAt least 14 children were reportedly also among the 1,400 Israeli victims of the October 7 Hamas attack. About 200 people taken captive by Hamas also include children. Israel has not released data on the demographics of all of those killed in that attack.
\nAren\u2019t children legally protected in wars?
\nYes, they\u2019re meant to be. Internationally accepted rules of armed conflict were passed under the Geneva Conventions in 1949, which state children must be protected and treated humanely.
\nIsrael ratified the conventions in 1951, just a few years after one and a half million Jewish children were killed in Europe during the Holocaust. But Israel does not recognise the 4th Geneva convention, which protects civilians fighting an occupation, as it as it doesn\u2019t consider Palestine to be occupied land.
\nThe disproportionate use of military might in Gaza is being billed by Israel as a legitimate means to destroy Hamas. And so civilian deaths tallied up in the attacks, including children, do not qualify as war crimes, Israel claims.
\nWhat effect is the war having on children?
\nParents, like Esra Abu Ghazzah, try to find ways to calm their children from the bombings and destruction around them. The 30-year-old mother told Al Jazeera her children, aged eight and two, have started to vomit after air strikes, and are also wetting the bed. Both are responses to heightened fear.
\nThe Abu Ghazzah children are part of the 95 percent of Palestinian children in Gaza who are living with the psychological effects of war.
\nA research paper written by Palestinian psychologist Dr Iman Farajallah found that children who survive wars do not emerge unscathed and can pay a high price psychologically, emotionally and behaviourally.
\nSome children display restlessness, regression or violent behaviour.
\nFor Samah Jabr, a 35-year-old mother of four in Gaza City, her eldest son, Qusay, who is 13, is her main worry. She told Al Jazeera: \u201cHe is very agitated and lashes out a lot these days. He jumps at any sound,\u201d she said. \u201cHe can\u2019t bear anyone speaking loudly, even if they\u2019re joking. I try to tell him that this war will end.\u201d
\nOthers may not want to leave their mothers\u2019 sight, explains Farajallah. \u201cThey won\u2019t even leave the room to go to the bathroom or kitchen without their mothers, and I\u2019m talking about teenagers here.\u201d<\/p>\n
How have schools been affected?
\nWith the latest campaign of relentless bombing, education has once again been put on hold, as schools turn into makeshift shelters and survival becomes the only lesson.
\nThe United Nations is now sheltering about 400,000 displaced Gazans in its schools and other facilities, but the UN\u2019s agency for Palestinian refugees, the UNRWA, which runs 278 schools in Gaza, has said at least four schools have suffered damage from Israeli bombing in which at least six people have been killed.
\nThe Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, which provides scholarships for Palestinians in need at its al-Fakhoora school in Gaza, was destroyed on Tuesday. The EAA released a statement saying that \u201ccollective punishment, reprisals, and attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are serious violations of international humanitarian law, and if deliberate they are war crimes\u201d.<\/p>\n
How is the lack of food and water affecting children?
\nIsrael\u2019s total blockade on Gaza has meant no food or water can enter the territory, but Israeli authorities have said they resumed water supplies to southern Gaza on Tuesday. Palestinians have said without electricity to operate the water pumps, the water crisis continues.
\nWith food and water rapidly running out, Gazans are prioritising whatever little water supplies they have for their children.
\nChildren are more at risk of dehydration, and malnourishment can further speed up the effects of having no water.
\nA Jerusalem-based nutritionist with the World Food Programme (WFP) also told Al Jazeera that poor water sanitation can lead to children facing high risks of diarrhoeal diseases, which are the most common cause of dehydration and the globally leading cause of child mortality for under-fives.
\nA lack of food at best affects cognitive function and energy levels, and at worst can lead to starvation and death.<\/p>\n
What are the long-term consequences?
\nFor those who don\u2019t die in this war, they will have to learn how to survive without the rest of their family members, explained Ghassan Abu-Sitta, a British Palestinian surgeon working with Medical Aid for Palestinians in Gaza. He has called this war \u201ca war against children\u201d.
\n\u201cThe repercussions of this war will not only affect the victims we have lost, some of which are still trapped under the rubble of their homes \u2026 but the psychological impact on us civilians and our children will be catastrophic,\u201d Mohammad Abu Rukbeh, senior Gaza field researcher at DCIP, said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than 100 children have been killed every day since Israel started bombing the besieged Palestinian enclave on October 7 Khan Younis One child is killed every 15 minutes in the Israeli bombings of Gaza, according to a Palestinian NGO, highlighting the toll the current war has exacted on children. More than 100 children have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362687,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-362666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n