Approximately one out of every 120 children in the besieged Gaza Strip has been killed.
One in every hundred people in Gaza has lost their lives since Israel’s genocide in Gaza began on October 7, which also means 1% of the Strip’s total pre-war population of 2.27 million has now been wiped out, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced on Monday.
Since October 7, Israel has killed at least 23,084 Palestinians and wounded around 58,926 others.
Last month, Israeli occupation forces asserted that it had achieved a “tremendously positive” ratio of two Palestinian civilians for every Hamas militant killed.
More than 5,300 women and 9,000 children are among the dead, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
With the pre-war child population of Gaza standing at about 1.1 million, according to UNICEF, this means that approximately one out of every 120 children in the enclave has been killed.
Save the Children released a separate statistic, revealing that over 10 children on average have lost one or both of their legs every day in Gaza since October.
International organisations are sounding the alarm about the deepening humanitarian crisis, warning of the risk of starvation.
According to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), 90% of Palestinians in Gaza have been “forcibly displaced and lack everything.”
Approximately 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced, with 1.88 million seeking refuge in or near 155 UNRWA installations. 131 UNRWA facilities have also suffered damage due to the impactful strikes conducted by Israel throughout Gaza.
UN emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths warned last week that famine was “around the corner,” with Gaza facing the “highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded.”
UNICEF highlighted the vulnerability of the youngest children, estimating that in the coming weeks, “at least 10,000 children under five years will suffer the most life-threatening form of malnutrition, known as severe wasting, and will need therapeutic foods.”
The lack of sanitation in southern Gaza, where the displaced are crowded, has led to the spread of contagious and respiratory diseases.
“Some 180 Palestinian women are giving birth daily amidst this chaos,” Griffiths said, adding that, “Gaza has simply become uninhabitable.”
Easily curable diseases are becoming deadly due to the lack of basic medical equipment.
Separately, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) acknowledges that Israel’s actions towards the Palestinian people amount to an ongoing genocide, it said in a report on December 12.
Countries and individuals supporting Israel are consequently complicit in this action, it added.
“An immediate ceasefire is imperative to save civilian lives and bring ongoing crimes to an end. The International Criminal Court is called to immediately issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials who are responsible for international crimes against Palestinians,” it said in the statement.
“Palestinians have to endure thousands upon thousands of unimaginable tragedies, all intentional. This level of orchestrated violence by an occupying force is genocide,” said Alice Mogwe, FIDH President.
“To say it is unfolding is also to say that it can, and indeed must be stopped. To political leaders and high officials, we must stress that support and assistance to Israel is complicity in this unfolding genocide,” she added.
“You have been warned.”
