The United Nations on Saturday said the weeklong Israeli-Palestinian crisis has killed more than 40 children as it urged immediate de-escalation ahead of an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
The fighting broke out over a neighborhood of Jerusalem after Jewish settlers tried to control of the Palestinian homes just before the Islamic festival of Eid ul Fitr. Following the tensions, Palestinian militant group Hamas fired rockets into territories under Israeli control. Israel retaliated with airstrikes.
International media reports said Saturday an Israeli airstrike demolished a building housing AP and Al Jazeera media offices.
The latest deaths occurred overnight when eight Palestinian children were reported killed north of Gaza, Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said.
Citing media reports, the UN said the children were among 10 members of a Palestinian family who died in an Israeli airstrike on their home in the Al Shati refugee camp.
Chaiban reported that since 10 May, at least 40 children in Gaza have been killed, ranging in age from six months to 17 years, with over half younger than 10. Two children in Israel, including a six-year-old, were killed since the escalation began.
In addition, more than 1,000 people in Gaza were reported injured, some severely, including “a high number” of children.
“In the past week, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, one 16-year old child was killed and at least 54 Palestinian children were reported injured, another 26 children have been arrested. Most have since been released,” he said.
Meanwhile, 35 schools in Gaza have been damaged and at least 29 schools are serving as temporary shelters for families who have fled their homes due to heavy violence.
According to the UN Children’s Fund, as many as 10,000 people are displaced, most of them children. Three schools in Israel have been damaged, according to reports received by the UN agency.
UPDATE: Last night, another 8 Palestinian children were killed in the Gaza Strip. The youngest 4 years old, the oldest 15.
Since escalation began 5 days ago, 40 children were killed in the Gaza Strip & 2 in Israel.
These are children.
This is a grave violation #AChildIsAChild— UNICEF Palestine (@UNICEFpalestine) May 15, 2021
Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet appealed to all sides to take steps to de-escalate the increasingly alarming situation in the region.
“Over the past 10 days, the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel has deteriorated at an alarming rate,” she said in a statement.
“The situation in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem, triggered by threats of forced evictions of Palestinian families; the heavy presence of Israeli Security Forces and violence around the al Aqsa mosque during Ramadan; the severe escalation of attacks from and on Gaza; and the shocking incitement to racial hatred and violence in Israel have all led to vicious attacks and mounting casualties in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in Israel.”
Bachelet added that “rather than seeking to calm tensions, inflammatory rhetoric from leaders on all sides appears to be seeking to excite tensions rather than to calm them.”
Meanwhile, casualties continue to mount in exchanges between the Israeli troops and those from the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza. On Saturday, UNICEF Palestine reported on Twitter that eight children were killed overnight in Gaza and that so far 40 children there, and two in Israel, have lost their lives.
On Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, will address the 15-member Council, officials said.
Bachelet warned that the firing of large numbers of indiscriminate rockets by Palestinian armed groups into Israel, including densely populated areas, amounts to war crimes.
There are also concerns that some attacks by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza “targeted civilian objects that, under international humanitarian law, do not meet the requirements to be considered as military objectives.”
Her statement said failure to adhere to the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution in conducting military operations “amounts to a serious violation of international humanitarian law and may constitute war crimes.”
President Joe Biden’s Administration has also launched diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reiterated U.S. support for the Israeli right to self-defense and also said the Palestinians should get an opportunity to live safely.
