GENEVA, October 7. /TASS/. On average, one child is killed or injured every 17 minutes as a result of Israel's attacks in the Gaza Strip, said Ricardo Pires, a representative of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
According to him, for two years now, "children have paid the heaviest price in this crisis" in the Palestinian enclave. He stressed that "61,000 children have reportedly been either killed or maimed since the horrors [the radical Palestinian movement] Hamas unleashed in Israel and what followed after the disproportionate response from Israel that is still ongoing."
"That's an average of one child either killed or maimed every 17 minutes. This is an unacceptable, staggering figure that we still have to live with today," Pires concluded.
Tensions resurfaced in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a sudden attack on Israel, killing residents of border areas and taking more than 250 hostages. In response, Israel launched a military campaign in the Palestinian enclave to eliminate Hamas’ military and political structures and secure the release of all hostages.
According to the latest figures from Gaza’s health ministry, the Palestinian death toll from the conflict has surpassed 67,000, with over 169,000 injured. At least 460 people, including 154 children, have died of starvation.