Years into Israel’s invasion, Gaza’s children continue to face impossible odds

With every school bombed, every home demolished, every aid delivery blocked and every parent killed, the children of Gaza continue to pay the heaviest price for Israel’s invasion.

Tuesday marked two years since Hamas launched its attack on Israel that killed 1,200 and captured about 250, some of whom were children. The resulting ongoing Israeli invasion into Gaza has killed more than 66,000 and rendered the enclave uninhabitable, leading credible human rights groups, scholars and activists to declare it a genocide against the Palestinian people.

Children make up half the population of Gaza, but face near-impossible odds trying to survive. Since October 2023, an average of one child every 17 minutes has been killed or maimed. Gaza now has the highest number of child amputees, as well as a shocking amount of orphans, according to the U.N.

“Children have been suffering in their bodies and their minds for way too long” due to Israel’s “disproportionate response,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said Tuesday. “They’ve been exposed to disease and violence on a scale unprecedented for Gaza.”

Over the past two years, HuffPost has spoken to dozens of health care workers and aid groups in Gaza, nearly all of whom described just how Israel’s nightmarish offensive has disproportionately affected Palestinian children. Doctors recalled sniper-style gunshot wounds to children’s heads, limb amputations without anesthesia, sickness from sewage and displacement, and malnutrition-related deaths – all of which were extremely difficult to treat given the ongoing blockade of most medical supplies and humanitarian assistance.

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