CHILDREN OF GAZA POSTER

Children and children's rights have long been a focal point of the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict, dating as early as the 1929 Hebron massacre and the 1948 Deir Yassin massacre, both of which claimed the lives of children, precipitating a long conflict that has often led to the displacement, injury, and death of youths. Youth exposure to hostilities increased notably during the First and Second Intifada, where harsh responses from Israeli forces towards Palestinian adolescents and children protesting the Israeli occupation led to the arrest and detention of many Palestinian youth, in addition to other human rights abuses. International organizations, including the UN and Human Rights Watch, have expressed grave concern about the treatment of children in the conflict and have called for both sides to adhere to international conventions on the rights of children. In fact, during the Israel–Hamas war, the United Nations added the Israeli Defense Forces to a list of offenders who fail to protect children. According to B'tselem's calculations, as of 2021, some 2,171 Palestinian children have been killed in the last two decades by Israeli forces, and 139 Israeli children have been killed by Palestinian forces. Save the Children has estimated that up to 21,000 children have gone missing from the Gaza Strip between October 2023 to June 2024.