GAZA, NOV 20 /DNA/ – The Human Rights Organizations Coalition “Hurriya” issued today, Wednesday, November 20, 2024, a detailed fact sheet on the occasion of World Children’s Day, under the title: Gaza Children at the forefront of the victims of aggression.
“Hurriya” mentioned in the sheet in detail the figures and statistics of the crimes of the Israeli occupation forces against Gazan children from October 7, 2023 until November 20, 2024.
“Hurriya” indicated that its teams monitored and documented thousands of cases during the period covered by the sheet in which children were victims, whether directly or indirectly.
“Hurriya” confirmed that the violations to which the children of the Gaza Strip were subjected were numerous and varied, as they included murder and assault on personal safety by beating and sometimes by humiliation and degrading treatment, as well as arrest, denial of treatment, forced displacement, starvation, and deprivation of basic rights, including their right to education, adequate housing, health, and other rights guaranteed to them by the rules of international law and international agreements related to children.
“Hurriya” explained in the prepared fact sheet that the occupation forces have killed (17,390) children under the age of 18 since the beginning of the aggression on the Gaza Strip, and (22,110) other children were injured and need to travel to receive treatment due to the lack of necessary medicines for them. “Hurriya” stated in the fact sheet that (1,250) cases of amputation of the lower limbs among Gazan children were recorded since the beginning of the aggression as a result of their injury by shrapnel from Israeli projectiles and missiles. In addition, (55) children died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration, due to the starvation policy pursued by the occupation forces in their aggression against civilians. “Hurriya” recorded the death of (217) newborn children “premature” as a result of the power outage in the incubators and the severe shortage of medicines and health supplies. The occupation forces also recorded the arrest of dozens of children during their incursion into cities and camps in the governorates of the Gaza Strip or during their passage through the military checkpoints set up by the occupation forces. They were subjected to the most horrific forms of torture, humiliation and degrading treatment inside Israeli prisons. “Hurriya” said that (3,500) children have no information about their fate until now, and “Hurriya” also recorded (35,000) cases of children living without their parents or one of them. “Hurriya” showed through the fact sheet that the military occupation forces forced tens of thousands of Gazan children to forcibly migrate, and in dozens of cases, “Hurriya” recorded the displacement of children without their families after they lost them as a result of the military attacks carried out by the occupation forces without taking into account the rules and provisions of humanitarian law.
He pointed out that tens of thousands of Gazan children in the governorates of the Gaza Strip are exposed to malnutrition and systematic starvation, which the occupation forces are using as a means in their ongoing aggression against civilians.
The fact sheet addressed the international protection that the rules of international humanitarian law have granted to children, and addressed their minimum rights guaranteed by international agreements related to children.
“Hurriya” stated that the silence of the international community, the United Nations and its various agencies on the crimes of the occupation forces against Gazan children has reinforced the occupation forces’ evasion of the principles, values and norms of armed conflicts, and made them persist in violating those rules and norms.
At the end of the detailed paper, “Hurriya” stressed the need to end the policy of impunity that Israeli war criminals have enjoyed for decades, calling for the need for the international community and the high contracting parties to the Geneva Conventions to take urgent action and rapid intervention that ensures the provision of protection for the Palestinian people in general and for children in particular.
“Hurriya” renewed its call to the UN Secretary-General to take serious steps to ensure that the Israeli occupation authorities are permanently included in the annual “shame” list of parties that violate children’s rights.