The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) estimated that since October 7, 2023, Israel, the occupying power, has been killing the equivalent of a classroom full of children each day, with the number of students ranging between 35 and 45.
“Every single day since the start of the war in Gaza, on average, a classroom full of children has been killed,” Acting Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, Sam Rose, said in a statement.
Before the outbreak of the genocidal war that turned the majority of UNRWA-run schools into shelters for displaced people, the number of students per classroom ranged between 35 and 45, depending on the level of overcrowding in the schools.
Children have paid a heavy price in the ongoing genocide committed by Israel for more than 21 months, during which over 18,000 children have been killed and about 16,854 of them have been admitted to hospitals, according to medical sources.
Children in the Gaza Strip also live a harsh reality due to repeated waves of displacement, as well as hunger and thirst resulting from the occupation’s policies of destroying food and water sources and blocking border crossings.
On July 8 of this year, UNRWA stated that children in Gaza make up half of the population (which totals 2.4 million), and their lives are marked by war and destruction.
The Israeli aggression on Gaza has left more than 197,000 civilians killed and injured, mostly children and women, with over 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced and famine that has claimed many lives, including dozens of children
One in 10 children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza since 2024 has been malnourished, the agency said yesterday.
“Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March,” UNRWA’s Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, told reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan.
Since January 2024, UNRWA said it had screened more than 240,000 boys and girls under the age of five in its clinics, adding that before the war, acute malnutrition was rarely seen in the Gaza Strip.
“One nurse that we spoke to told us that in the past, he only saw these cases of malnutrition in textbooks and documentaries,” Touma said.
“Medicine, nutrition supplies, hygiene material, fuel are all rapidly running out,” Touma said.
On May 19, Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza, allowing limited UN deliveries to resume. However, UNRWA continues to be banned from bringing aid into the enclave.
Israel and the United States have accused Palestinian fighter group Hamas of stealing from UN-led aid operations – which Hamas denies. They have instead set up the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), using private US security and logistics firms to transport aid to distribution hubs, which the UN has refused to work with.
On Monday, UNICEF said that last month more than 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in Gaza, including more than 1,000 children with severe, acute malnutrition. It said it was an increase for the fourth month in a row.
A rescheduled United Nations conference this month will discuss post-war plans for Gaza and preparations for the recognition of a Palestinian state by France and others, France’s foreign minister said yesterday.
France and Saudi Arabia had planned to host the conference in New York from June 17 to 20, aiming to lay out the parameters of a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel’s security.
“The aim is to sketch out post-war Gaza and prepare the recognition of a Palestinian state by France and countries that will engage in this approach,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in Brussels before a meeting of European Union foreign ministers.
The conference was postponed under US pressure and after the 12-day Israel-Iran air war began, during which regional airspace was closed, making it hard for representatives of some Arab states to attend. Diplomats said on Friday it had been rescheduled for July 28-29.
French President Emmanuel Macron had been set to attend the conference and had suggested he could recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territories at the conference, a move opposed by Israel.
Macron is no longer expected to attend, reducing the likelihood of any major announcements being made.
Diplomats say Macron has faced resistance from allies such as Britain and Canada over his push for the recognition of a Palestinian state.
Israel has been fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian fighter group’s deadly attack on Israel in October 2023. A US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire is being discussed at talks in Doha.
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