Muscat: A 14-month-old Palestinian baby Wateen was injured in an Israeli strike that killed her mother and injured her twin brother Ahmed.
At least 2,000 children have been killed in Gaza over the past 17 days, and a further 27 killed in the West Bank, with constant airstrikes reducing thousands of buildings across the Gaza Strip to piles of smoking rubble.
A further 27 children were killed in Israel, according to Israeli media.
Thousands of homes, and dozens of playgrounds, schools, hospitals, churches, and mosques have been damaged or destroyed in Gaza, with at least 4,600 children injured as reported by the Ministry of Health - some with excruciating burns, lost limbs, and other horrific blast injuries, and unable to receive adequate care. The damage to health infrastructures and the lack of medical supplies are forcing doctors to make impossible choices like performing surgery on hospital floors, often without anesthesia, and hampering their ability to treat patients with life-changing injuries.
Jason Lee, Save the Children’s Country Director for the occupied Palestinian territory, said: “Active conflict, including relentless airstrikes, in such a small, densely populated city is leading to a shockingly high civilian death toll. Children are particularly vulnerable to the impact of explosive weapons - their bodies are thrown harder and further by the blasts. Their bones bend more, increasing the chances of long-term deformities with little chance of recovery. They have less blood to lose. They are unlikely to receive the specialist medical care they need, with health systems often at the point of collapse and fewer trained surgeons available. The lack of medicines, electricity, and much-needed water in the hospitals means that facilities can barely function."
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