"40 percent of those killed in Israeli attacks are children"
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, briefed reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York regarding the report she presented to the General Assembly concerning Palestinian children.
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Albanese stated, "The relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces has already resulted in the deaths of 5,700 people, an estimated five times more (than Israeli casualties), and 40 percent of them were children. Are we aware of what is happening? There are also 15,000 seriously injured."
The UN Special Rapporteur noted that since the conflict between Israel and Hamas resumed on October 7, 1.6 million Palestinians have been displaced in Gaza, and these individuals lack access to water, food, electricity, and medicine.
"TRAUMA AND DESTRUCTION ARE INDESCRIBABLE"
Albanese said, "The trauma and destruction are indescribable. The hell that the people of Gaza are currently in is a stain on all of us, on all UN member states, especially those who have the power to stop this and do not."
"THE WORST NIGHT OF MY LIFE"
UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Albanese stated that as a result of the bombardment carried out by Israel yesterday, the "Palestinian people experienced one of the deadliest days in their history."
Albanese said, "A child in Rafah told me this morning that last night was the worst night of their life, and that hundreds of people were killed in the area where they were located."
Stating that she "condemns the violence fueled by rage that Israel has launched against the people of Gaza," Albanese noted that it is unlawful to punish all Palestinians in the region "for what Hamas and possibly others have done."
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN
UN Special Rapporteur Albanese stated, "My report focused on the generational impact of the Israeli settler-colonial occupation on children in the occupied Palestinian territories, and what remains of their right to live safely and with dignity."
Albanese noted that between 2008 and October 7, 1,534 Palestinian children were killed and 32,175 were injured as a result of Israeli attacks, while in the same time frame, only 25 Israeli children lost their lives and 524 were injured in counter-attacks.
Francesca Albanese also noted that since the year 2000, 13,000 Palestinian children have been arrested, interrogated, and brutally detained by Israeli forces.
"ARE WE WORTH LESS?"
Expressing that Palestinian children ask her, "Why are we less human? Are we worth less?", Albanese stated the following:
"Recently, an Israeli occupation lieutenant said that the number of Palestinian children accidentally killed during operations aimed at eliminating terrorists is insignificant. We must also remember a statement that depicted Palestinian children and their parents as terrorists and claimed that human shields are very common in Israel."