News - Middle East: In early September, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in central Gaza City, killing many, including 9-year-old Tala Abu Ajwa, whose blood-stained roller skate hogged headlines.

Her lifeless body lay at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City hours after yet another devastating bombing. Those who knew Tala could only recognize her by the pink roller skate that she still wore.

The whole world came crashing down for her parents as the joyful sound of her beautiful laughter had been silenced forever by the child-murdering regime in Tel Aviv.

Hours before all the hell broke loose, Tala pleaded with her mother for permission to play outside with neighborhood children. The mother initially hesitated but then allowed Tala to venture out.

Within no time, a thunderous roar of bombs shattered the calm of HizrAllah’s residential quarter.

Panic gripped mother Hadeel and father Hussam as they realized their daughter was caught in the chaos outside. Tala was quickly rushed to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.

The bombing killed eight others, marking another devastating massacre in the year-long Israeli genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, enabled by the United States.

As the Israeli genocidal campaign continues into its 411th day, the Israeli regime has claimed the lives of at least 42,985 Palestinians, leaving thousands more missing or trapped beneath rubble.

Since October 7, 2023, at least 17,500 children have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli regime, which means a Palestinian child is being killed in the besieged territory every 30 minutes, according to the latest data from the Palestinian health ministry.

More than 17,400 children in Gaza have lost one or both parents, adding another layer to their tragedy.

The statistics are harrowing as 710 infants under the age of one, 1,793 toddlers aged 1-3, 1,205 preschoolers aged 4-5, 4,205 primary school children aged 6-12, and 3,442 high school students aged 13-17 have been killed by the Tel Aviv regime.

Additionally, 209 infants have been born into a war that has claimed their lives since October last year. 

On average, 46 children are killed each day in Gaza, while 25,000 children have become orphans since October 2023.The psychological toll of the protracted war is equally staggering, with 816,000 Palestinian children in need of psychological assistance due to the relentless Israeli attacks, according to local officials.
The experiences of these children have been marked by trauma and loss. A 17-year-old in Gaza has lived through five Israeli wars, a 10-year-old has endured three, and a 3-year-old has witnessed two.
These children are forced to navigate life under an illegal Israeli blockade and ongoing ethnic cleansing that has taken a new dimension since the events of October 7 last year.
The situation is not confined to Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, 185 children have been reportedly killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the past two years, with 73 recorded incidents of attacks on children.
The impact of the Israeli acts of aggression extends beyond Palestinian territories. In Lebanon, more than 200 children have been killed as a result of Israeli attacks in recent months, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
On November 19, 2024, the UN agency reported that, amid intensified Israeli airstrikes in the capital Beirut, an average of three children have been killed daily.
“Despite more than 200 children killed in Lebanon in less than two months, a disconcerting pattern has emerged: their deaths are met with inertia from those able to stop this violence,” UNICEF’s spokesperson James Elder said, terming it "a silent normalization of horror.”
Elder also made a poignant comparison regarding the devastating conditions faced by children in both Gaza and Lebanon. "In Lebanon, much the same as has become the case in Gaza, the intolerable is quietly transforming into the acceptable. And the appalling is slipping into the realm of the expected.”
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, 231 children are among the 3,452 fatalities in the Arab country. Additionally, of the 14,664 individuals injured, 1,330 are children.

The ongoing Israeli genocidal war on Gaza has sparked alarm among human rights activists and UN officials, who have repeatedly voiced concerns about the widespread atrocities committed against children, especially since October 2023.
Elder characterized the besieged strip as a “graveyard for thousands of children".
"More than one million children of Gaza also have a water crisis. Gaza’s water production capacity is a mere 5 percent of its usual daily output.  Child deaths – particularly infants - to dehydration are a growing threat," he was quoted as saying recently.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini on March 14, 2024, called it "a war on children."
"It is a war on their childhood and their future,” emphasizing, “ More children have been killed in four months of war in Gaza than in four years of wars worldwide," he stated.
World Children’s Day, observed annually on November 20, this year comes as the Israeli genocidal attacks against children in Gaza and Lebanon continue unabated. 
Established by the United Nations in 1954, this day commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, focusing on promoting children's rights, welfare, and well-being.
World Children’s Day, according to the UN, serves as a reminder of the global commitment to protect children’s rights and enhance their living conditions.
This year’s theme, "Listen to the Future," highlights the importance of incorporating children's perspectives into decision-making.
However, this theme, activists say, does not apply to children in Gaza and Lebanon, who continue to endure relentless Israeli campaigns of extermination and ethnic cleansing. 
Sidra Hassouna, 7 years old
Sidra Hassouna, a 7-year-old from northern Gaza, had sought refuge with her family in the southern part of the besieged territory, declared a "safe zone."
On February 14, a major overnight attack on the city of Rafah claimed the lives of over a hundred Palestinians sheltering in makeshift tents and on deserted streets.
A missile struck where the Hassouna family was hiding, killing them all and dismembering little Sidra. Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zamlot, identified her body. She was his wife’s cousin.
Sidra was killed alongside her twin sister Suzan and their 15-month-old brother Malik, while their parents and grandparents perished in the airstrike, wiping out the entire family.

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