At least 17,000 children in the Gaza Strip are unaccompanied or separated from their families, according to estimates by UNICEF, the U.N. children’s fund.
UNICEF has described Gaza as the “most dangerous place in the world to be a child,” saying that Israel’s war against Hamas has turned the enclave into “a graveyard for thousands of children.” Amid a deepening humanitarian crisis and warnings about the imminent risk of famine, UNICEF has said that many children are malnourished and sick.
A spokesperson for the agency, Jonathan Crickx, said Friday that the number of unaccompanied children — “each one a heartbreaking story of loss and grief” — was an estimate, since the current security and humanitarian conditions made it nearly impossible to fully verify.
“Behind each of these statistics is a child who is coming to terms with this horrible new reality,” he added in a statement following a trip to Gaza.
In a conflict, members of an extended family often take in children who have been separated from their parents, including those who have been orphaned, he noted. But shortages of food, water and shelter in Gaza have made it so that the extended families of unaccompanied children are often “struggling to cater for their own children” and unable to care for another, he added.
Children account for about 40% of the 27,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to authorities in Gaza and international organizations.
This news story is one of the reasons why we shouldn't be supporting Israel as they are killing the children's parents from bombings and shootings which is why I think this is the breaking news.
@9JQJL9C1yr1Y
I think that Israel is wrong for targeting children and civilians.
@9JQF3Q81yr1Y
I think that children in Gaza matter and they should be payed more attention.
@9JQDBQP1yr1Y
It is more important to people's lives right now.
@9JQ9GKJ1yr1Y
We need a ceasefire. Israel is committing a genocide.
@9JQ3XL21yr1Y
These children will likely die without anyone to take care of them.
@9JQ3BDDConservative1yr1Y
Israel should be brought to justice for war crimes
@9JQ29KZ1yr1Y
Israel is committing genocide and we are not doing anything to help the Palestinian people.
@9JPZ3C21yr1Y
Very bad thing to happen to children
@9JPWY281yr1Y
i think it is so cruel what is happening in gaza and how almost every country and everyone in the UN has failed these poor children. the correct number is actually 27,000 children who have died and most likely moving to a larger number and the fact that is just children not including adults.
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