Geneva - Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor stated that the Israeli army is crushing the innocence of Gaza's children, killing an average of 100 of them daily since the launch of its extensive military offensive against the region on the 7th of October of this year.
Euro-Med Monitor documented the killing of 1046 Palestinian children until last night, with an estimated 167 others still buried under the rubble of the destroyed residential buildings due to Israeli attacks, and they have not been rescued yet.
It added that it had documented the injury of 3250 other children with various wounds, including at least 1240 children needing specialized medical care, suffering from the pain, loss, and the dominance of wounds due to Israel's intense attacks on residential areas and civilian facilities, in a gross violation of the rules protecting children guaranteed under international humanitarian law.
The human rights organization said that Gaza's children have suffered severely since the start of the current Israeli offensive and have become the primary target of the ongoing "massacre" against the Palestinians, where lives have been extinguished, families torn apart, and children have suffered devastating effects.
Euro-Med Monitor mentioned that those who survived the killings among Gaza's children have lost one or both parents, had their homes destroyed or damaged by Israel's attacks, or were forced to flee with their families, escaping Israel's attacks or forced evacuation warnings.
It warned that hundreds of images and video clips have been documented, showing the shattering of the heads of young children and fragments penetrating their bodies, while the rubble scattered from the residential buildings destroyed above the heads of their inhabitants caused the bodies of hundreds of young children to be torn apart.
It added that the majority of the injured children in Gaza are suffering from horrifying burns, shrapnel wounds, and limb amputations, in addition to record levels of psychological trauma and terror, leaving them with their families without any safe shelter.
The youngest victim in the Gaza Strip is Nabilah Nofal, who was born on the 7th of October, which witnessed the start of the current round of fighting, and she was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza just a week later after shrapnel penetrated her small body.
In a statement to the Euro-Med Monitor, the Palestinian Talat Abu Lashin stated that 16 members of his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip, including 8 children who were sleeping.
Another Palestinian, Salah al-Khayyat, was shocked by the killing of his wife Hiba and their three children, among 15 others in their family home in Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, due to an Israeli aerial strike that destroyed their home above their heads, and only their 4-year-old daughter Ilyah survived.
Euro-Med Monitor emphasized that the impact on families and children is not only about the numbers of deaths and injuries but also about the severe psychological impact and their suffering from the lack of humanitarian supplies such as electricity, water, and other essential services.
It explained that what is happening to Gaza's children, who represent more than 45% of the local population, is threatening them with strong psychological symptoms such as nighttime terror, hallucinations, overwhelming obsessions, extreme fear, and severe sleep disturbances due to the targeting of residential areas.
Euro-Med Monitor confirmed that Gaza's children are paying a heavy price for the consequences of Israel's indiscriminate attacks, not only because they are vulnerable to killing and serious injuries but also because of the harmful psychological effects that may accompany them throughout their lives.
It highlighted the risks of a significant increase in the rates of depression for children in Gaza, especially in cases of the killing of one of their family members or relatives in front of them, or when they suffer serious injuries, or when their homes are demolished and their contents scattered, and some of them may lose the ability to speak due to excessive fear.
It pointed out that these psychological complications are currently threatening tens of thousands of children in Gaza who were forcibly displaced and have become homeless with their relatives or in shelters or even those who were forced to stay in the open.
Euro-Med Monitor stressed that Israel violates several rules of international law in its war on Gaza and its systematic targeting of children, including the failure to distinguish between civilians and combatants and the intentional harm to civilians and their property.
It mentioned that Article 25 of the Hague Convention clearly prohibits attacking or shelling cities, villages, residential areas, or buildings devoid of defence means, regardless of the means used.
The basic statutes of the International Criminal Court state explicitly that deliberately directing attacks against civilians or against civilian individuals who do not directly participate in hostilities constitutes a war crime.
International rules also provide special protection for children in armed conflicts and make avoiding harm to them a duty on warring parties, as they are civilians enjoying international protection.
International agreements make harming children a crime punishable by law, such as the four Geneva Conventions and their two Additional Protocols of 1979 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989. However, Israel does not comply with any rules of international law, especially those related to children.
Euro-Med Monitor concluded that the Israeli armed forces have advanced military techniques that enable them to accurately identify targets to avoid killing civilians and children, which means that avoiding the killing of innocent children is "practically possible," but Israeli attacks are far from this clear commitment.
