The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has strongly condemned Israel for “grave violations” of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, committed during its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
The committee described the impact of the war on Palestinian children as “catastrophic” since the war began on October 7, 2023.
According to data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 41,000 people have been killed in the besieged enclave since Israeli occupation launched its military offensive.
Approximately 70% of the victims are reported to be children and women. The health ministry also reported over 95,000 people injured and more than 12,000 missing.
In a June report, the British aid organization Save the Children stated that, in addition to the casualties recorded by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, thousands of children are presumed missing beneath the rubble, buried in unmarked graves, or seriously injured by explosives.
In a press conference in Geneva, Bragi Gudbrandsson, the vice chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, described the violations as some of the worst in modern history.
“The outrageous death of children is almost historically unique. This is an extremely dark place in history,” Bragi Gudbrandsson, vice chair of the committee, told reporters.
“I don’t think we have seen before, a violation that is so massive, as we are seeing in Gaza now…These are extremely grave violations that we do not often see,” he said.
Earlier in September, during a series of hearings before the UN committee, the Israeli delegation claimed that the Convention on the Rights of the Child does not apply to Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is responsible for monitoring the adherence of countries to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, a widely adopted treaty that protects individuals under the age of 18 from violence and other forms of abuse.
The committee comprises 18 independent experts who oversee the implementation of the convention by member states.
Additionally, the committee monitors the implementation of two optional protocols related to the involvement of children in armed conflicts and the sale, trafficking, and exploitation of children.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines who children are, outlines their rights, and clarifies governments’ responsibilities toward them. All rights listed in the convention are interconnected and equally important, and no child should be deprived of any of these rights.
The committee urged Israel in its conclusions to offer immediate aid to the thousands of children wounded or disabled by the war, provide care for orphans, and facilitate more medical evacuations from Gaza.
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