‘Between pain and fear’: Gaza children bear cost of ongoing Israeli attacks
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- Hala Lubbad (7) survived a June 2 Israeli strike on her Gaza City home that killed her policeman father, teacher mother, and two siblings aged 10 and 17; her aunt Haneen says she now needs urgent medical and psychological treatment abroad for severe burns and may lose her fingers.
- Two-month-old Mohammed al-Khatib had his left leg amputated and is at risk of losing his arm after an Israeli attack on al-Mawasi killed his mother on May 25; his father Ahmed says the infant undergoes a new operation every day at Nasser Medical Complex.
- UNICEF reports at least 21,289 Palestinian children have been killed and 44,500 wounded since the war began in October 2023, with 17,000 children orphaned or separated from caregivers, per UN estimates.
- Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since the October 2025 'ceasefire,' including at least 60 boys and 40 girls in the first three months—roughly one child per day—according to UNICEF, with hundreds more wounded.
- Gaza now has one of the highest rates of child amputees per capita in the world, and health officials warn that delays in evacuating critically wounded children abroad can eliminate any chance of recovery or rehabilitation.
- Psychologists have advised Hala's family against telling her at once that her parents and siblings are dead, warning she 'may collapse'—while Ahmed al-Khatib struggles to explain to his 2½-year-old son Adam that his mother 'went to heaven,' a concept the toddler cannot grasp.
Why it matters: An 'ceasefire' announced in October 2025 has failed to halt the killing of Gaza's children—about one has died daily since, 17,000 have been orphaned since 2023, and thousands face amputations with severely limited medical evacuation options, putting an entire generation at risk of permanent disability and unprocessed trauma.
