On the Occasion of Palestinian Child Day The Horrors of Death and Destruction Devastate the Children of Palestine
Reference Number: 38 / 2025
Date: April 4, 2025
Press Release
On the Occasion of Palestinian Child Day
The Horrors of Death and Destruction Devastate the Children of Palestine
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) strongly condemns the ongoing genocide and Israeli aggression against civilians, especially children, who make up 43% of the population and have been, and continue to be, exposed to death by airstrikes, tank shells, and gunfire by Israeli forces, or death from hunger, thirst, and disease due to the siege and collective punishment imposed by the Israeli occupation.
The ongoing genocide and Israeli aggression over the past year and a half have led to the killing of approximately 18,000 children, including 274 infants, 876 under the age of one, and 69 children who died from famine and cold. Additionally, more than 45,000 children have been injured, over 39,000 children have been orphaned, and more than 5,000 children remain missing under the rubble. In the West Bank, 188 children have been killed and 660 injured due to the continued aggression, while Israeli forces have arrested approximately 1,055 children.
Currently, nearly one million children in the Gaza Strip are enduring catastrophic suffering and deprivation due to policies of starvation, forced displacement, the destruction of schools, and the collapse of healthcare and humanitarian systems. Moreover, they are subjected to severe psychological trauma that will have devastating long-term impacts on their lives — all in blatant violation of international humanitarian law, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its First Optional Protocol, and UN Security Council Resolution 1261, which provides special protection for children during armed conflicts.
Despite Israel being listed on the United Nations’ blacklist of countries that violate children’s rights, international actions remain insufficient to protect the children of Gaza from this ongoing genocide.
ICSPR calls on the international community, the United Nations, and the third states party to the Geneva Conventions and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to take urgent action. This includes activating all mechanisms of international protection to stop the genocide, ensure the flow of humanitarian aid, end the targeting of children and civilians, and implement mechanisms of boycott and sanctions against the Israeli occupation state. ICSPR also demands accountability for Israeli leaders and soldiers for their crimes against Palestinian children and civilians.
