Kazem Abu Khalaf: There are shocking figures that reflect the extent of the humanitarian tragedy experienced by children in the Gaza Strip after 18 months of ongoing Israeli warfare.

Khaled Qazmar: The number of children killed in one year of the war on Gaza exceeds the number of victims of wars around the world in an entire decade.

Dr. Abdul Majeed Suwailem: Israeli crimes in Gaza, especially against children, represent a dangerous manifestation of the principles of "genocide, ethnic cleansing, barbarism, revenge, and sadism."

Dr. Suhail Diab: Israel is waging its last demographic war after exhausting all options, while the world is witnessing an unprecedented moral collapse.

Yasser Manna: The open massacre of Palestinian children is a clear declaration of the world's failure in its most important moral and humanitarian test.

In the midst of one of the most horrific humanitarian tragedies of modern times, the children of the Gaza Strip are facing a merciless Israeli war of extermination, reaping their lives, destroying their futures, and uprooting them from their families and psychological roots. More than 18,000 children have been killed in this war, and tens of thousands more have been left without parents, or even a safe shelter.

Shocking numbers speak of mass tragedies in a small geographical area that has become a place of death, where there is no safe place and no life resembling life.

International officials, writers, and human rights activists, speaking separately to Al-Quds, say this comes amid a near-total collapse of the health and education systems, while tens of thousands of children find themselves amid the rubble of their schools and homes, wounded in body and soul, deprived of their most basic rights to treatment, education, and safety. Stories are no longer told of heroic steadfastness or childhood dreams, but of amputated limbs, screams rising above the rubble, and mothers searching the rubble for their children.

They assert that amidst this open hell, the global conscience has yet to awaken. Condemnations are timid, international positions are selective, humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip, and killers are granted political and legal immunity. This is a declared genocide, occurring daily. Children are reduced to mere numbers in field reports, a scene that exposes the moral and humanitarian failure of the international system.

Gaza's children live in a "maze of death"

UNICEF spokesperson Kazem Abu Khalaf says shocking figures reflect the scale of the humanitarian tragedy facing children in the Gaza Strip after 18 months of ongoing Israeli warfare. He describes their suffering as "a reality without parallel" in the world, despite the presence of other conflicts, such as in Sudan.

Abu Khalaf explains that the number of children who have lost their families in Gaza has reached approximately 39,000, 37,000 of whom have lost one parent (father or mother), while 2,000 have lost both parents. What's even more alarming, however, is the presence of 17,000 "unaccompanied" children—those separated from their families with no known fate—of whom only about 300 have been reunited to date.

"Children in Gaza are paying a heavy price for such a small geographical area," Abu Khalaf said. "The number of child victims in the last 18 months exceeds any other place in the world, relative to the population."

Abu Khalaf points out that, according to specialized statistical reports, approximately 16,500 people are in dire need of exiting the Gaza Strip for medical treatment, including more than 4,000 children. Fewer than 2,000 of those in need of treatment have been able to leave since October 2023, including 632 children, due to Israeli restrictions.

The suffering of wounded and amputated children

Abu Khalaf speaks about the suffering of wounded children, particularly those with amputated limbs, who are suffering from a lack of medicine and medical care following the destruction of the health system.

Abu Khalaf points to the prevalence of psychological crises among children due to daily trauma, saying, "All children in Gaza, who constitute half of the Gazan population, need urgent psychological support."

Abu Khalaf confirms that children in Gaza have lost two consecutive years of school, with most schools destroyed and some converted into shelters.

Abu Khalaf criticizes the transformation of humanitarian aid into a political "bargaining tool," despite international law requiring it to be delivered unconditionally. All of this is taking place amid international silence and inaction.

Abu Khalaf points out that the ongoing bombardment, displacement, and ongoing war have transformed children's lives into a "death maze," with no safe place to be. Meanwhile, many are suffering from cold, hunger, and thirst due to the ban on the entry of essential supplies for more than a month and a half.

Abu Khalaf criticizes the international community for its "inaction" and limiting itself to "condemnations," while using aid as a "pressure card."

Abu Khalaf says, "Gaza has become a model for the humanitarian disaster taking place before the eyes of the world. Children are dying of hunger or bombing, and no one is taking action."

Abu Khalaf warns that the continuation of the war would mean the destruction of an entire generation, calling for the immediate opening of the crossings, an end to the blockade, and the prosecution of all those involved in these crimes.

Gaza has become a "children's graveyard"

For his part, Khaled Quzmar, General Director of Defense for Children International - Palestine, described the suffering of children in the Gaza Strip as an "unprecedented crime" in modern history, asserting that the number of children killed in a single year of war exceeds the number of victims of wars around the world in an entire decade. He noted that Gaza has "become a graveyard for children," as the UN Secretary-General put it.

Qazmar asserts that the figures documenting the occupation's crimes against children in Gaza are "shameful" to humanity in modern history, noting that the number of child martyrs has exceeded 18,000 since the beginning of the war, while the names of many of them remain unknown due to the magnitude of the disaster and the inability to fully document them.

"In the 2014 war, we recorded 555 child martyrs, and we had details for every case. Today, we have 18,000 martyrs, and we don't even know everyone's names," Qazmar says.

Qazmar addresses the broader human tragedy, where more than 39,000 children have lost their familial support, either through the loss of one or both parents, leaving lifelong psychological and physical scars.

Qazmar points out that there are more than 11,000 missing persons, 40% of whom are children, in addition to thousands of cases of limb amputation among children, which constitute permanent disabilities in light of the collapse of the health system.

"Starvation" as a tool of war

Qazmar asserts that the occupation has not limited itself to direct killing, but has also practiced a policy of "starvation" as a tool of war. He explains that at least 52 children have been documented as having died of starvation, while hundreds of thousands more are suffering from severe malnutrition and a lack of drinking water.

“Diseases are spreading at an unprecedented rate, and hospitals are no longer able to function after being systematically destroyed,” Qazmar says.

Qazmar points out that the destruction of Gaza's healthcare infrastructure is "a dangerous precedent in the history of conflict," as hospitals were bombed by aircraft and tanks, depriving the Strip of its ability to provide basic medical services.

Qazmar tells the story of a girl who was being treated for an amputated leg and dreamed of recovering and becoming a doctor, before Israel bombed the hospital she was staying in, leading to her martyrdom. Her dream was never fulfilled.

Qazmar asserts that more than 700,000 children have been deprived of their right to education following the destruction of schools and universities, warning that missing two consecutive years of schooling will produce a wounded generation with no future. He emphasizes that this violation clearly contravenes international law, which guarantees education as a fundamental right.

Qazmar points out that the percentage of children among casualties in Gaza has increased from 20% in previous wars to approximately 40% currently, a reason attributed to the high population density in the Strip, where children constitute 47% of the population.

Occupation soldiers boast about filming their crimes.

"Israel commits its crimes in full view of the world," Qazmar says. "In fact, its soldiers boast about filming their crimes." He cites cases recorded by Israeli soldiers who blew up Palestinian homes and sent them as "gifts" to their relatives.

Qazmar criticizes the international community, particularly the United States and Western countries, describing them as "partners in genocide" due to their military and political support for Israel and their protection of it in international forums.

Qazmar also criticizes the inaction of the International Criminal Court, which has only taken action against a limited number of Israeli leaders, despite extensive evidence of their crimes.

Qazmar asserts that the International Court of Justice's decisions, which deemed Israel's actions "genocide," have not been implemented due to what he describes as "international hypocrisy," where legal standards are applied selectively.

"The West claims to defend human rights, while they are burning them in Gaza. The global conscience is dead," Qazmar says.

Qazmar calls for an immediate ceasefire, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and the accountability of all those responsible for these crimes, believing that international silence only encourages Israel to proceed with its genocide.

"We cannot count the martyrs daily while the world watches," Qazmar says. "Every child killed is a crime that burns the conscience of humanity."

A shocking case of human incompetence towards killing

In turn, writer and political analyst Dr. Abdul Majeed Sweilem says that the killing, destruction, and human suffering being inflicted on Gaza's children should galvanize the conscience of humanity as a whole. However, the international response remains below the desired level, reflecting a shocking state of human inadequacy in the face of "deliberate killing and sadistic revenge."

Suwailem explains that this failure in the humanitarian response to the Israeli crimes against the people of the Gaza Strip, especially children, is due to the absence of a genuine organization of human consciences, which, while present in their hearts, have not translated into pressure lobbies capable of halting this genocide.

Suwailem asserts that the Israeli crimes committed in Gaza, particularly against children, represent a dangerous manifestation of the principles of "genocide, ethnic cleansing, barbarism, revenge, and sadism," traits that are prevalent in the Israeli mentality, which, in light of the absolute political and military support of the United States, is liberated from any moral or legal constraints.

The West will pay the price for its complicity with Israeli brutality.

Suwailem points out that responsibility does not fall solely on the occupation and its supporters, but also includes the Western political establishment, which has so far failed to take a clear moral and humanitarian stance. He warns that history will condemn this silence, and the West will pay a heavy price for its complicity in Israeli brutality.

Suwailem criticizes the official Arab and Islamic regimes for not taking any action, except for a few demonstrations and emotional stances, which he describes as incapable of forming a real pressure group to stop the massacres.

Suwailem emphasizes that the movement within Israeli society demanding an end to the war in Gaza does not stem from humanitarian motives or a rejection of brutality, but rather is limited to a demand for the release of Israeli prisoners, while the killing of Palestinian children in any way preoccupies them.

Suwailem says: "Anyone who believes that Israeli society can be driven by humanitarian motives, as has happened with other peoples after their countries committed crimes throughout history, is delusional. This is a society driven solely by its hateful racist motives, and is completely removed from any civilized or humanitarian values."

Israel returns to the "1948 Nakba Square"

For his part, Dr. Suhail Diab, a professor of political science and expert on Israeli affairs, asserts that targeting children in Gaza is part of a systematic Israeli strategy for a "demographic solution" as an alternative to the failure of the Zionist project to achieve its goals through other means. He points out that it is returning Israel to the "1948 Nakba" after the collapse of its political and military narratives.

Diab explains that the first angle lies in the Israeli realization that the "demographic solution" is the only option after other means have failed. Geographical nibbling failed after the formal annexation of the territories stalled, and international legitimacy collapsed with the exposure of the falsity of Israeli democratic claims, leading to a return to the 1948 model of genocide and population displacement, as occurred during the Nakba.

"Killing children is not a random act, but rather part of a mathematical equation to ensure Jewish demographic superiority," Diab says.

The second angle, according to Diab, is Israel's resounding moral decline, as it has reached a stage of "indifference to international institutions or humanitarian pressures," while the third angle shows international impotence divided into three axes: the United States, which is actively participating in the crime through military and political support; the international community, which is torn between rejecting the crimes and not confronting Israel for fear of supporting Hamas; and the Arab world, where some Arab regimes see the war as a means to weaken both Israel and the resistance, which represents the Iranian axis.

A true test of human conscience

Diab addresses the historical and ideological reasons that fuel Israeli violence and the pursuit of killing and exterminating the Palestinian people, especially children, pointing to three main factors: the Talmudic doctrine that legitimizes the "preemptive killing" of anyone deemed a threat, citing the book by Israeli journalist Bergman (2018), which documented 2,780 political assassinations since the 1940s based on this doctrine.

The second factor, according to Diab, is the Zionist security vision based on the idea of “a people without a land for a land without a people,” which has caused ethnic cleansing since 1948, leading to massacres such as Kafr Qasim (1956).

Diab points to the third factor: the persecution complex even among secular Jews, who experience a "collective paranoia" that forces them to seek a permanent enemy to strengthen internal unity.

Diab warns that the current situation represents a unique moment, as Israel is waging its last demographic war after exhausting all other options, and the world is witnessing an unprecedented moral collapse in dealing with crimes. Diab asserts that history will not forgive the accomplices, especially since the evidence of genocide has become "public."

"What's happening in Gaza is not just a war, but a true test of humanity's conscience, and children are the indicator that shows everyone's failure," Diab says.

A damning testimony to the collapse of the international value system

Writer and expert on Israeli affairs, Yasser Manna, says that what Gaza's children are being subjected to cannot be considered merely an emotional depiction of a tragic humanitarian situation, but rather "a damning testimony to the collapse of the international value system." He points out that "the open massacre of Palestinian children is a clear declaration of the world's failure in the most important moral and humanitarian test: the protection of children."

Manaa believes that the statements of some UN officials, who described what happened as "unprecedented in modern history," indirectly confirm that international institutions have become content to watch without taking any real action. In his opinion, this reflects a double failure: an inability to stop the crimes and an inability to enforce international law, which has appeared selective in its treatment of Palestinian blood.

Killing children based on a deep-rooted ideology

Manaa asserts that the targeting of children is not the result of military errors or what is known as "collateral damage," but rather the result of a deeply rooted ideological background within certain factions within the Israeli security and political establishment, which views Palestinian children as a "postponed enemy," believing that "killing the seed" is the guarantee of continued control in the future.

Manaa asserts that this approach reflects a clear Israeli desire to "psychologically destroy Palestinian society" by striking at its weakest link: childhood.

"Revenge against children is not only a military weapon, but also a psychological weapon intended to instill despair in people and kill any hope for the future," Manaa says.

Manaa believes that the most dangerous aspect of these crimes is the "international silence," which sends an implicit message that "Palestinian blood is permissible to be shed, and that impunity has become the norm."