By Gokhan Celikler and Sumeyye Dilara Dincer
The conflict between Israel and Palestine that has been ongoing since Oct. 7 continues with five children being killed every hour in the Gaza Strip.
Half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million consists of children, and the number of youths who were killed in the first three weeks has exceeded the global average of children killed in the past three years.
More than 40% of the 7,028 Palestinians killed in the conflict since Oct. 7 have been children, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) data.
Data from the UK-based Save The Children, based on health officials controlled by Hamas, more than 3,000 children were killed in Palestine in three weeks.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said Israel killed 9,061 Palestinians in attacks, including 3,760 children, 2,326 women and at least 32,000 people were injured.
Save The Children said the number of children killed in Palestine in the last three weeks exceeded the number of children killed in conflicts worldwide from 2020 - 2022.
In reports by the UN Secretary-General on Armed Conflicts and Children, it was stated that 2,985 children died in 24 countries in conflicts in 2022; 2,515 were killed in 2021 and 2,674 in 2020.
The report for 2019 did not provide information about the number of countries but said 4,019 children were killed in conflicts worldwide.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health published a 212-page report on the deaths in Gaza due to Israel's attacks between Oct. 7 and Oct.26 and found 2,913 of the 7,028 killed were children.
In Israel's attacks, 133 babies under the age of 1, and 444 babies younger than 3 were killed.
In bombings, 171 children at the age of three, 1,527 elementary school age (4 - 13), and 523 high school age (14 - 17) were killed
-Large portion of the wounded are children
The WHO announced a significant portion of the 18,482 people injured in Palestine since Oct. 7 are children.
According to a report based on Israeli officials by CNN, more than 1,400 Israelis were killed since Oct. 7, with 30 being children.
According to UNICEF, Gaza is turning into a graveyard for children
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder expressed concern about child deaths in Gaza under Israel's heavy attacks.
He emphasized that children have been adversely affected by the conflict.
"We are concerned about the increasing child deaths in Gaza. Gaza is turning into a graveyard for children," he said.
Elder reiterated UNICEF's demand for an urgent cease-fire and the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
"Children in Gaza are not only dying because of the bombings, but they are also dying due to the lack of the medical care they need," he added.
-Child deaths in Ukraine
On the other hand, since the first day of the Russia-Ukraine War, heavy clashes have taken place in the Kharkiv region, where settlements have been completely destroyed and thousands of children have not been able to return to their homes.
According to the data of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Ukraine has more than 6 million citizens under 18. More than 1 million are registered as "under the age of 5."
According to the data released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), 9,614 out of the 7,028 people killed in the war that broke out Feb. 24, 2022, were children until Sept. 10, 2023. It was stated that 1,180 of the 17,535 injured were children.
According to Save the Children data from July, an average of three children are killed or injured every day in the war.
The June data from Ukraine revealed that 19,501 children were forcibly taken to Russia during the war.