The Central Bureau of Statistics said that the Israeli forces kill about 4 children every hour in the Gaza Strip, and 43,349 children live without their parents or one of them, due to the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip for the 181st day.

The statistics stated in a statement issued today, Thursday, on the occasion of Palestinian Children’s Day, that more than 14,350 deaths were children, constituting 44% of the total number of deaths in the Gaza Strip, and women and children also constituted 70% of the missing in the Gaza Strip. As a result of the Israeli aggression, the number of whom is 7,000 people.

He pointed out that 455 martyrs have died in the West Bank since the start of the aggression on the 7th of last October, including 117 children, and there are 724 children wounded out of 4,700 wounded since the start of the aggression, and 1,620 Palestinians, including 710 children, have been displaced in various areas. Throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, due to the demolition of their homes, more than half of them were displaced during military operations, especially in the refugee camps in Tulkarm and Jenin.

In this context, during the year 2023, 1,085 children were arrested from the West Bank, including 500 children after the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, including 318 children from the Jerusalem Governorate.

According to data from the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority, the Israeli occupation is still detaining 204 children in its prisons, including 202 from the West Bank, one from the Gaza Strip, and one from within the 1948 territories, including 11 sentenced prisoners, 158 detainees, and 35 under administrative detention.

About half of Palestinian society are children

It is expected that the number of children under 18 years of age in mid-2024 in the State of Palestine will reach 2,432,534 children (1,364,548 children in the West Bank, and 1,067,986 children in the Gaza Strip), and the percentage of children in Palestine constitutes about 43% of the total population (41% in the West Bank). Western and 47% in the Gaza Strip), while the number of children under the age of 18 in the Gaza Strip was estimated at 544,776 male children and 523,210 female children, of whom about 15% were under the age of five (341,790 male and female children).

43,349 children live without their parents or one of them in the Gaza Strip

In 2020, there were 26,349 children aged between 0-17 years who were orphans (lost one or both of their parents) in the Gaza Strip, while estimates by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicate that about 17,000 children in Gaza became Orphans after losing their parents or one of them since October 7, 2023, and each of them represents a sad story of loss and bereavement, and this number represents about 1% of the total number of displaced people, which number 1.7 million displaced people in the Gaza Strip, and as a result they are living in very difficult conditions. They are placed in exceptional circumstances and have no real shelter, as this can lead to profound negative effects on children, including psychological and social effects such as loneliness, deteriorating mental health, and poor learning and social development.

Famine and malnutrition threaten the lives of children in the Gaza Strip

The Integrated Interim Classification for Food Security (IPC) report for the period February 15-March 15, 2024 showed a high risk of famine in the Gaza Strip, indicating that 95% of the population in the Gaza Strip (about 2.13 million people) face high levels of food security. Severe food insecurity, including up to 1.1 million people in Gaza, facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity, including an almost 80% increase in the number of people facing the highest food insecurity rating since December. The situations of these families are characterized by Living conditions are characterized by severe lack of food, famine, and exhausted coping capacities, leading to alarmingly high rates of acute malnutrition among children under the age of five, and a significant increase in the mortality rate.

The Ministry of Health reported that 28 children died of malnutrition and dehydration in hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

According to nutrition examinations conducted by UNICEF, which showed that acute malnutrition rates among children in northern Gaza and Rafah nearly doubled compared to January 2024, rising from 16% to 31% among children under the age of two in northern Gaza, and from 13% to 25%. % among children under the age of two in Rafah. The rate of severe wasting, which is the most life-threatening form of malnutrition and requires therapeutic feeding and treatment that is not available in Gaza, also increased from 3% to 4.5% among children in shelters and health centers in northern Gaza, where it was four times higher than it was in Rafah, where it rose from 1% to 4%, and in Khan Yunis, where it was found that 28% of children under the age of two suffer from acute malnutrition, including 10% who suffer from severe wasting.

It is noteworthy that the percentage of children who were moderately underweight in the Gaza Strip in 2020 was 2.1%, and 0.3% severely, and that the percentage of children who were moderately short in stature reached 9.0% at the time, and 1.8% were suffering from short stature. Sharp. The percentage of children suffering from moderate wasting was 1%, and severe wasting was 0.5%.

Newborn children of the Gaza Strip are in a struggle to survive in light of the health and food crisis

Newborn children in the Gaza Strip find themselves in a difficult battle to survive, as health data issued by UNICEF show that about 20,000 children were born under the Israeli aggression since it broke out on the Gaza Strip, and there are about 60,000 pregnant women in the Strip, with an average of 180 cases. They face many challenges giving birth every day, as a result of pregnant women suffering from malnutrition and dehydration and facing severe food poverty, so many of their children are born underweight and suffer from health problems, in addition to the possibility of them not receiving vaccinations due to their lack, and this means the emergence of diseases that have been eliminated and were not. Found among children, such as measles, whooping cough, polio, and others. As a result, the continuation of these catastrophic conditions leads to the death of many newborns, as the neonatal mortality rate in 2020 in the Gaza Strip reached 8.8 births per 1,000 live births. It is reported that the number of children of vaccination age (0-23 months) has reached 208,300 boys and girls.

More than 816 thousand children need psychological help from the effects of aggression

Given the scenes of killing and destruction as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression for 181 days, it leaves profound psychological effects on the children of the Gaza Strip. This effect can include negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, and depression, psychological shock due to continuous psychological pressure, and material and human losses, such as the loss of relatives or Homes. Aggression can also affect their behavior and daily lifestyle, such as changes in sleeping patterns, feeding, and social relationships. Children may also be exposed to painful physical injuries or the loss of loved ones, which increases their need for psychological and emotional support to recover from these painful experiences. Data indicate that there are more than 816 thousand children in the Gaza Strip in need of psychological assistance from the effects of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

620 thousand students, both male and female, in the Gaza Strip were deprived of their right to school education

As a result of the continuous bombing and violent raids on the Gaza Strip, the toll of martyrs among students and teachers, and the destruction of the infrastructure of a significant number of schools, the educational process in the Gaza Strip has been disrupted since the start of the aggression, and about 620,000 students have been deprived of their right to school education for the academic year 2023/2024. The number of martyrs among students enrolled in schools in Palestine reached 6,050 martyrs, with 5,994 martyrs in the Gaza Strip and 56 martyrs in the West Bank. While the number of wounded students enrolled in schools in Palestine reached 10,219 wounded, with 9,890 wounded in the Gaza Strip and 329 wounded in the West Bank. As for the detained students enrolled in schools, 105 students were arrested, all of them from the West Bank.