3,000 children in Gaza killed by Israel since Oct 7: Palestine's UN envoy

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) – Some 3,000 children have been killed by Israel since the attacks it launched on Oct. 7, Palestine's UN envoy said Thursday.

"I repeat, 3,000 children, innocent children, angels killed in Gaza during the last three weeks," Riyad Mansour said in an emotional address to an emergency UN General Assembly session on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"There is no time to mourn, more death is on the way," Mansour warned.

Mansour said 7,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza, saying that fully 70% of all those killed are women and children.

"Is this the war some of you are defending? These are crimes. This is barbarism. If you don’t stop it for all those who were killed, stop it for all those whose lives we can still save," he implored.

Some 1,600 Palestinians still lie under the rubble, killed or injured and no one can reach them, to save them or bury them, he said.

The ambassador also Israel has destroyed over 40% of all homes in Gaza, making an entire population homeless and displacing 1.4 million people, in the hope to forcibly transferring them outside of the territory.

Mansour also cited Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's remarks at the Security Council calling for the release of the hostages held by Hamas, saying: "Bring them home."

"For millions of Palestinians, there is no home to go back to. For thousands, there is no family left to embrace. Not by an act of God, but by the acts of a government represented here," said Mansour.

"Vengeance is dead and the only path forward is justice," he added.

The conflict in Gaza began on Oct. 7 when the Palestinian group Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood – a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea, and air.

Hamas said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched a relentless bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been running out of food, water, medicine, and fuel, and aid convoys recently allowed into Gaza have carried only a fraction of what is needed.