The Gaza Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that 16,278 children have been killed since Israel launched its full-scale military campaign on October 7, 2023.

The figure, revealed by Dr. Marwan al-Hams, Director of Field Hospitals, represents an average of one child killed every 40 minutes over the past 18 months.

Dr. al-Hams, speaking at a press conference held at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, mourned that among the fatalities were 908 infants under one year old, as well as 311 babies born during the siege—only to be killed in the onslaught. He underscored that Israel’s decision to seal Gaza’s crossings in early March has precipitated a further collapse of essential healthcare services, with primary clinics shuttered by shelling or forced into evacuation zones.

“Thousands of children and pregnant women have been stripped of life-saving medical care,” Dr. al-Hams said. He warned of critical shortages in women’s and children’s medicines—now at 51% below needed levels—including nutritional supplements, vitamins, and infant formula. Notably, polio vaccines remain barred from entry, heightening the risk of new epidemics.

The dire conditions have already claimed at least 57 lives—including children—due to malnutrition and preventable health complications, Dr. al-Hams reported. He highlighted the severe scarcity of therapeutic milk, vital for children with special needs, describing the unfolding crisis as “a deliberate strategy of starvation and medical deprivation.”

International human rights organizations and UN agencies have repeatedly accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, where over 2.4 million civilians endure a total blockade, relentless bombardment, and forced displacement. The Ministry of Health’s latest figures add to mounting evidence of potential war crimes and call for urgent global intervention.

“Each of these children’s deaths is a crime against humanity,” said Dr. al-Hams. “The world must not stand by as another generation of Palestinians is exterminated through bombs, bullets, and deliberate medical strangulation.”

As Gaza’s health system teeters on the brink of total collapse, Palestinian leaders and humanitarian groups insist that any ceasefire or diplomatic initiative must include unhindered entry of food, medicine, and medical personnel, and an immediate end to the siege and aggression. (ILKHA)