Occupied Palestine is becoming the deadliest place in the world for children, according to UN officials

WITH no help in reaching northern Gaza and Israeli attacks continuing daily, occupied Palestine is considered the deadliest place in the world for children, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Children’s Humanitarian Affairs (OH).

OH stated that children in the occupied territories are constantly exposed to violence, lack of access to adequate health care and highest rates child malnutrition worldwide – with 83% of needed food aid unable to reach Gaza.

According to the latest data analyzed in October, approx 30% of 11,300 identified children killed in Gaza between October 2023 and August 2024 were under five years old, thousands more have not yet been identified. Gaza also currently has the highest rate of child malnutrition in the world.

The increased spread of disease, hunger and malnutrition, combined with child casualties, have contributed to Gaza having the highest number of children killed in conflict in the last four years alone.

“This war is a war on children. This is a war for their childhood and future,” said UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini in the declaration submitted in X while calling for a ceasefire.

According to Jason Lee, children account for two out of five civilian deaths in Gaza: Save the childrenDirector of Palestinian Territories. The actual number is expected to be much higher because the statistics do not include the thousands trapped under the rubble and missing.

New analysis by Oxfam revealed that Israeli forces have killed more women and children in Gaza over the past year than in any recent conflict in a single year.

The Oxfam study analyzed almost two decades of data from the UN and Small Arms Survey, including data from: AOAVwhich shows that Israeli explosive weapons have hit civilian infrastructure in Gaza on average once every three hours since the conflict began.

Last year, more than 25,000 children lost their parents or became orphans. One in ten people has lost a limb, suffered serious injuries or is disabled.

Since October 7, at least 42,438 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 99,246 people have been injured, most of them women and children, Al Jazeera reported.

“As we sit here today, 1.2 million children are deprived of education. Their public schools have either become inaccessible, have been damaged by war or are being used as shelters,” said Ted Chaiban, UNICEF deputy executive director for humanitarian response. Associated Press. “The last thing this country needs, on top of everything it has been through, is the risk of a lost generation.”