By Hosni Nadim
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – At least 16,480 Palestinian children have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since last Oct. 7, local authorities said on Monday.
“The victims included 115 babies,” Ismail Thawabteh, who heads Gaza’s government media office, told Anadolu.
He said 35 Palestinian children have died from malnutrition and dehydration amid a tight Israeli blockade on the enclave.
“At least 3,500 children in Gaza are facing the risk of death amid a lack of food and malnutrition under Israeli restrictions on the delivery of food into Gaza,” he warned.
"More than 17,000 children have lost their parents or at least one of them after they were brutally killed by Israeli occupation forces" since Oct. 7," Thawabteh said.
For months, international and UN agencies have warned from a negative psychological impact on Palestinian children due to Israel’s devastating offensive on Gaza.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.
The Israeli onslaught has since killed over 40,130 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 92,740, according to local health authorities.
More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar