Israel kills a child in Gaza every 45 minutes.
It is on average 30 children killed every day during the last 535 days.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed at least 17,400 children, including 15,600 people who have been identified. Many others remain buried under the rubble, the most alleged dead.
Many surviving children have endured the trauma of several wars, and all spent their lives under the oppressive shadow of an Israeli blockade, affecting all aspects of their existence from birth.
What remains of the children of Gaza?
About half of the 2.3 million Gaza residents are children.
Over the past 17 months, Israeli attacks have left their ruined homes, destroyed their schools and exceeded their health establishments.
To put this in perspective, if you had a room of 100 children:
- 2 were killed
- 2 are missing, presumed dead
- 3 were injured, many
- 5 were orphans or separated from their parents
- 5 require treatment for acute malnutrition
The other children carry the invisible scars of war, a trauma that affects their mental health, their security and their future.
Who were killed these children Israel?
They were the sons and daughters of Gaza, each with a life that should have been filled with innocence and joy of childhood.
Among the documented children killed, there was –
- At least 825 babies, not yet old enough to celebrate their first birthday
- 895 old, killed before they could take their first steps
- 3,266 who died as a preschool aged two to five, deprived of play, discovery and simple wonders of growing up
- 4,032 who died from six to 10 years old, leaving empty classrooms and school uniforms that were hardly worn
- 3,646 who died from 11 to 14 years old, the middle school students who had lived three wars (2012, 2014, 2021), but who were killed in the fourth
- and 2,949 who were 15 to 17 years old, at the age when they were preparing to enter the world, leaving behind dreams of independence and future have never realized; The 17-year-olds lived four wars (2008-09, 2012, 2014, 2021) and were killed in the fifth
- 8,899 son and 6,714 were girls
1,720 killed before their first steps
On March 18, Israeli forces launched 100 simultaneous strikes through the Gaza Strip, breaking a two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas.
During the next 36 hours, 436 people were killed, including at least 183 children, 94 women, 34 elderly and 125 men.
Among the children killed, Mohammed Abu Hilal, a year old, who died with his seven -month pregnant mother, Afnan, in an Israeli air attack against the Al -Mawasi camp – a place that Israel had affirmed was a “safe area”. His father Alaa had sent them there in the hope of keeping them safe.
“Oh, my dear son, climbed to paradise, you will find all your toys up there,” cried the father with a broken heart while holding the lifeless body of his son.
Mohammed was one of 895 children of a child – and 935 children named Mohammed – killed by Israeli attacks.
3,266 deprived of the joys of the game
Reem was only three years old when she was killed, alongside her five -year -old brother, Tarek, in an Israeli air attack against their family home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in November 2023.
After his death, a video of his grandfather, Khaled Nabhan, cradling his lifeless body and calling him “the soul of my soul” was widespread, symbolizing the immense suffering endured by the population of Gaza.
Khaled cherished his beloved granddaughter and sadly recalled how she would greet him with a hug every day.
On December 16, 2024, Khaled, who spent his time helping people in need, was also killed by an Israeli strike.
4,032 leaving empty classrooms
Hind Rajab, five, was a brilliant child and good heart full of life and curiosity, said his family and neighbors.
On January 29, 2024, Hind found the only survivor in a car soaked in blood filled with the bodies of his family.
They had been targeted by an Israeli reservoir while they were trying to flee the Israeli bombing in the Tal al-Hawa district. Hind was left alone but managed to call Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRC).
In her last moments, she pleaded to obtain help on the phone, her terrified cries resonating around the world.
“I’m so afraid, come. Please send someone to take me,” she said during a three-hour heartbreaking conversation with emergency services that Israel prevented it from reaching it.
Her body was discovered 12 days later alongside those of his family and the doctors who had tried to save her.
The Hind Rajab Foundation continues to honor its memory and to ask for justice from it and others affected by the War of Israel against Gaza.
3,646 killed before being able to grow
On October 19, 2023, an Israeli air strike struck the oldest church in Gaza, Saint Porphyrius, killing at least 18 people.
Among those who are killed were brothers and sisters, Suhail Ramez Al-Souri (14), Julie Ramez Al — Leri (12) and Majd Ramez Al-Souri (10).
Their broken heart father told the devastating moment that his children were killed while looking for refuge inside the church.
“We thought it was our refuge,” he said through tears, “our last refuge, in the house of God.”
“They bombed my angels without warning. They killed our children, the children of cousins, parents,” added the bereaved father.
2,949 futures never realized
Mahmoud wanted to be a journalist, just like his father.
Determined to share the stories of his homeland with the world, the 15 -year -old, known as “Young Wael”, with his sister Khuloud, began to record videos documenting the effects of the growing violence of Israel in Gaza.
“In Gaza, there is no safe place … It is the war (the fiercest) and the most violent that we lived (through) in Gaza. Help us stay alive,” argued the young Dahdouh Duo.
On the night of October 25, 2023, Mahmoud was killed, with his mother, his sister Sham, seven years old, a nephew and a half, a nephew and a half, and 21 others, during an Israeli air raid in the Nuseirat camp where the family had sought a shelter after being informed by the Israeli army to move south for their safety.
Children’s stories like Mohammed, Reem, Hind, the brothers and sisters Al-Souri and Mahmoud reflect the countless children stolen in Gaza, leaving memories of innocence and the future that will never be made.
