The Ministry of Social Development in the Gaza Strip said, on Wednesday, that the number of families that have become homeless as a result of the recent Israeli aggression has reached (459) families, in which more than (2,516) people live, including (1,180) children and (688) women, in addition to (97) of the elderly and (3) persons with disabilities.

During a press conference held today, Wednesday, at the headquarters of the government media office, the ministry confirmed that the children in this aggression were a direct target of the occupation, in addition to terrifying them with the sound of planes, bombs and explosions, which left deep psychological effects on children, resulting in a number of them losing their lives due to fear.

She noted that the occupation army practiced the most heinous forms of extortion and sadism towards safe families in general, by bombing homes without prior warning, knowing the presence of its residents, which created a state of panic, fear and terror among children, women, the elderly and people with disabilities.

The Ministry stated that it worked from the first moment of the aggression by standing by the families whose homes were destroyed by the occupation, noting that it was able to reach every family that lost its home, and provided them with initial relief through aid that varied between cash and in-kind, which amounted to about half a million dollars.

She explained that this aggression increased the suffering of families in the Gaza Strip, who are already living in difficult living conditions under a continuous blockade for more than 16 years, with a poverty rate that reached 60%, and more than 64% of the population of the Gaza Strip suffers from food insecurity and an unemployment rate that exceeds about 44%.

The ministry indicated that economic life stopped during the days of the aggression. This deprived tens of thousands of families who depend on daily wages from their source of income, making them unable to provide for their families' basic needs.

She expressed her astonishment at the silence of the international and human rights institutions, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and his affiliated institutions, regarding the occupation’s crimes against children in the Gaza Strip, calling for the need to work towards protecting children from the continuous aggression of the occupation in accordance with international laws and relevant international agreements.

It called on all international, regional, Arab and Islamic institutions to work to support the affected and poor families in the Gaza Strip, calling on the European Union, the World Bank and the National Authority to regularly disburse cash aid to poor families.

The ministry renewed its call to the World Food Program to reverse its decision to deprive poor families of foodstuffs, to be implemented on the first of June of this year, according to what the program announced.