UNICEF Condemns Israel’s Brutal War on Gaza’s Children As Toll Mounts after Two Years

The United Nations Children’s Fund on Tuesday warned that the Gaza Strip has become “a graveyard for children,” urging Israel to end an unrestrained campaign of violence against civilians.

“For nearly two years now, children have paid the heaviest price in this crisis,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said during a UN press briefing in Geneva.

He noted that “an average of one child is either killed or maimed every 17 minutes,” describing the figure as “unacceptable” and “staggering.”

Marking the second anniversary of Israel’s ongoing assault, Pires said children have suffered severe physical and psychological trauma, many of them orphaned or displaced repeatedly, witnessing “horrors that no child should ever have to look at or live.”

While UNICEF welcomed diplomatic efforts toward peace, Pires said Israeli airstrikes and bombardments persist in both northern and southern Gaza.

He warned that humanitarian convoys remain blocked by Israel, preventing life-saving medical supplies from reaching hospitals.

“We’re talking about children sharing oxygen masks in order to stay alive,” he said, adding that one in five babies in Gaza is now born prematurely due to the collapse of the health system.

UNICEF reported that over 10,000 children have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition in the past two months alone, with 2,400 currently receiving treatment for severe cases that could become fatal if aid remains cut off.

“The disproportionate response that followed October 2023, which today continues, needs to end — and it needs to end now,” Pires said.

Since Israel began its genocidal war in October 2023, more than 67,000 Palestinians — the majority women and children — have been killed in Gaza.

The continuing bombardment has reduced the enclave to rubble, forcing mass displacement and spreading hunger and disease across its population.