The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) delivered a searing account of the suffering endured by Gaza’s children under relentless Israeli bombardment and siege, declaring that nearly every child in the besieged Palestinian territory has faced "immense suffering" with lifelong consequences.

In a statement before the UN Security Council on Wednesday, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said that more than 17,000 Palestinian children have been killed and 33,000 others injured in the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza. She underscored that, on average, 28 children are killed daily, likening the toll to an entire classroom of children slaughtered each day for nearly two years.

“These children are not combatants,” Russell emphasized. “They are being killed and maimed as they line up for lifesaving food and medicine.”

Russell's powerful remarks spotlight the depth of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, where Israel’s brutal military campaign and total blockade have led to mass starvation, the collapse of healthcare, and the death of tens of thousands of civilians, the majority of them women and children.

UN: Israel Violating Geneva Conventions by Starving Gaza

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher also addressed the Council, warning that food and medical supplies in Gaza have nearly run out. He condemned the dire conditions in which civilians are being shot while trying to secure food, asserting that Israel, as the occupying power, is legally obligated under the Geneva Conventions to provide sustenance and aid.

“Civilians are exposed to death and injury, forcible displacement, and stripped of dignity,” Fletcher said, calling on the Council to question whether Israel’s military actions meet its obligations to avoid civilian harm.

Famine Looms as Deaths Mount at Aid Centers

On the same day, at least 20 Palestinians were killed during a food distribution event in Gaza — not by direct Israeli fire, but due to a stampede reportedly triggered by desperation and chaos. The incident marks yet another grim milestone in the man-made famine engineered by Israel’s siege, which has blocked humanitarian access and systematically destroyed Gaza’s food infrastructure.

Though some Israeli and American sources attempted to shift blame onto internal actors, Palestinian sources and human rights observers hold Israel squarely responsible for the starvation, violence, and collapse of civil order, citing months of indiscriminate bombing and siege tactics that have pushed an already vulnerable population to the brink of death.

Health officials also noted that hundreds of Palestinians have been killed en route to food distribution points, many gunned down by Israeli forces under the pretext of "security." Eyewitnesses report bodies left in the streets and children dying in their parents’ arms while waiting for food or water.

A Plea for Action

As the humanitarian toll climbs, international calls for a ceasefire have intensified. However, the Security Council remains paralyzed by political deadlock and veto power wielded by Israel’s allies, most notably the United States.

UNICEF’s Russell concluded her address with a plea to the global conscience: “History will not forgive silence in the face of this massacre of children. Gaza’s children are not collateral damage — they are victims of a systematic campaign of extermination.”

With over one million children in Gaza now facing permanent physical and psychological scars, and with famine and disease spreading, Palestinians and human rights advocates around the world are urging urgent, unified action to end what many now describe as a genocide unfolding in real time. (ILKHA)