Quick summary
• Israeli forces have killed 214 babies born after October 7, 2023, and more than 800 babies under a year old during the Gaza genocide.
• Over 17,800 children have been killed, and 38,500 children have lost one or both parents due to the genocide.
• Civil defense workers are still uncovering bodies beneath the rubble, with 10,000 Palestinians estimated to be missing and thousands of bodies disintegrated by airstrikes.
• The destruction in Gaza includes 92 percent of homes destroyed, 95 percent of schools damaged, and nearly 70 percent of structures damaged or obliterated.
• Al-Haq’s report details Israel’s systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system, including attacks on hospitals, denial of medical provisions, and targeted killing of medical workers.
• Health officials report 2.1 million cases of infectious diseases due to displacement, with 4,500 people having amputations, 18 percent of whom are children.
• Gaza’s Ministry of Health confirmed 47,283 deaths and over 111,472 injuries, with global experts warning the real numbers could be far higher.
Israeli forces killed hundreds of babies who were born during their genocide in Gaza, Palestinian officials say—babies who were born into a world of death and died knowing only Israeli bombardment and siege.
The Gaza Government Media Office said on Tuesday that Israeli forces killed 214 babies born after October 7, 2023, during the genocide. Since that date, Israeli forces have killed more than 800 babies under a year old and over 17,800 children in Gaza overall, officials stated.
These numbers include Aser and Aysal Muhammad Abu al-Qumsan, twins killed in an Israeli airstrike in August. They were killed along with their mother and grandmother as their father went to register their births, only to return to find his family slaughtered. The babies were just four days old.
It’s possible that far more newborns were killed than have been registered. Civil defense workers have spent the first days of the ceasefire agreement searching for the bodies of Palestinians buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israel and have reported finding the bodies of at least 200 people so far.
There are an estimated 10,000 Palestinians still missing under the rubble, while thousands of bodies were disintegrated by Israeli blasts, officials have said. Children’s bodies are especially susceptible to being torn apart and rendered unrecognizable from airstrikes or other methods of Israeli attacks.
Palestinian children have suffered in myriad other ways due to the genocide, as Gaza’s government office noted. According to officials, 38,500 children lost one or both parents during the genocide, while at least 3,500 children are at imminent risk of death due to starvation and malnutrition.
The Gaza Government Media Office also released a tranche of other statistics on the genocide. According to officials, the Israeli military killed 2,092 entire families, and 4,500 people had to have limbs amputated due to Israeli attacks—18 percent of those children. Health officials have also documented over 2.1 million cases of infectious diseases due to displacement.
The statistics are a grim show of the totality of Israel’s destruction, leaving no aspect of life untouched. Palestinians returning to their former homes after months of genocide have found nothing but rubble and debris, with infrastructure like running water or displacement shelters all destroyed by Israel.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israeli forces destroyed 92 percent of homes across Gaza in the genocide. Satellite imagery from the UN shows that nearly 70 percent of all structures were destroyed or damaged as of December.
Nothing was spared from Israeli bombardment. On Wednesday, the Gaza Education Ministry said that Israeli bombardment damaged 95 percent of schools in Gaza and rendered 85 percent of them unusable. Children were unable to attend school during the genocide, already setting an entire generation’s education back by two school years. At least 800 people who worked in education were killed during the genocide, the government reported.
Israel’s ban on the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) may set children back even further. UNRWA provided schooling for roughly 300,000 children in the Gaza Strip before the genocide, but will be banned from the territory by Israel starting Jan. 28 if international powers don’t intervene.
A recent report by the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq titled The Systematic Destruction of Gaza’s Healthcare System: A Pattern of Genocide highlights the targeted destruction of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure during Israel’s 15-month military assault. The report states that “Israel has systematically targeted and attacked the healthcare system to the point of its collapse in a campaign of genocide.”
The report describes Israeli attacks on hospitals and medical facilities, including the targeted destruction of Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa Hospital, and several others. It also documents the denial of medical provisions and the abduction and killing of healthcare workers, which the report says evidences “Israel’s genocidal intent.”
The publication calls on the international community to “name and condemn Israel’s ongoing genocide,” impose an arms embargo, support UNRWA, and demand the release of Palestinian political prisoners, including detained healthcare workers.
The report was released as the death toll in Gaza continues to rise, with the Gaza Ministry of Health stating that the official death toll has reached 47,283. Over 111,472 people have been injured, and thousands remain missing under the rubble.
Global experts warn the true death toll is likely far higher. Al-Haq’s report urges international bodies to investigate genocidal acts committed by Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank, including killings, serious harm to Palestinians, and deliberate destruction of living conditions.
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