Hamas condemns ongoing Israeli crimes against Palestinian children

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Saturday condemned continuous Israeli crimes against children in the Gaza Strip.

“Approximately 1,100 children have been detained by the Israeli army since Oct. 7, 2023, and around 39,000 others have lost one or both parents due to the violence,” Hamas said in a statement on the occasion of Palestinian Children's Day, observed annually on April 5.

It emphasized that “the Israeli occupation continues to target children through systematic crimes, including using them as human shields, depriving them of education, and attempting to sever their national identity in the occupied territories of 1948 through manipulation of curricula, the spread of crime, and the destruction of values.”

Hamas condemned the “deliberate killing, detention, and torture of children, as well as the deprivation of their basic human rights,” describing these actions as a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”

It warned that Israel’s “impunity encourages further escalation of crimes against Palestinian children.”

The group called on the UN and governments around the world to “criminalize Israel’s actions” and urged human rights organizations to fulfill their responsibilities by working earnestly to protect Palestinian children.

Since the onset of Israel's ongoing offensive in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, Palestinian children have been subjected to catastrophic conditions, with government reports indicating that women and children now account for more than 60% of the casualties.

Children under the age of 18 represent 43% of Palestine's population, with 3.4 million in the West Bank and 2.1 million in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel's military onslaught since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.