Over 20,000 children missing in Gaza: NGO

ISTANBUL

More than 20,000 Palestinian children are missing in Gaza due to Israel's assault on the enclave, many trapped beneath rubble, detained, buried in unmarked graves, or lost from their families, Save the Children said on Monday.

In a statement, the UK-based charity said it is “nearly impossible” to collect and verify information under the current conditions in Gaza, where Israel continues its ground and air attacks, but at least 17,000 children are believed to be unaccompanied and separated and approximately 4,000 children are likely missing under the rubble, with an unknown number also in mass graves.

"Others have been forcibly disappeared, including an unknown number detained and forcibly transferred out of Gaza, their whereabouts unknown to their families amidst reports of ill-treatment and torture," the organization said.

“Families are tortured by the uncertainty of the whereabouts of their loved ones. No parent should have to dig through rubble or mass graves to try and find their child’s body. No child should be alone, unprotected in a war zone. No child should be detained or held hostage," said Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East Jeremy Stoner.

Israel has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas that claimed 1,200 lives. Israeli actions have triggered a humanitarian disaster and an ongoing trial over alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice.