Half Billion Children Trapped in Conflict Face Grave Rights Offenses, Third Committee Told, as Delegate Stresses Minors ‘Innocent on Both Sides’

14 October 2024

Seventy-ninth Session,
13th & 14th Meetings (AM & PM)

Every Gaza Child Out of School; Israeli Children Face ‘Immeasurable’ Psychological Toll of Living under Missile Threat, Speakers Report

Nearly half a billion children are now living in conflict zones worldwide, exposed to severe human rights violations, delegates told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural) today, calling for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access.

In an all-day debate on children’s rights, speakers condemned attacks on civilian populations and infrastructure, conflict-related sexual violence and recruitment of minors into armed groups. Concurrently, they warned against the devastating impact of conflicts on children’s mental health, causing lifelong trauma and vulnerability to radicalization.

Over 15,000 children in Gaza have been violently killed by the blacklisted Israeli occupying forces, with over 20,000 missing, buried under the rubble or in mass graves, said the observer for the State of Palestine. “Thousands have been maimed and their limbs amputated, with Gaza becoming the home of the largest number of amputee children in modern history,” she stated. Every single child in Gaza is out of school as Israel destroyed 80 per cent of educational facilities there. Moreover, every single child there has been exposed to deeply distressing trauma and needs urgent psychosocial support. She called for halting arms transfers to Israel and enforcing International Court of Justice orders, stressing that “Israel won’t stop until the provision of weapons stops”.

Condemning Israel’s attacks against Palestinian and Lebanese children, Kuwait’s delegate voiced alarm over the “horrifying” 250 per cent rise in child fatalities in the West Bank in 2024. Continuing in their “clear disregard for international laws and norms,” Israeli forces have killed more than 100 children in 11 days during its aggression on Lebanese territory, she said, adding that the psychological trauma will affect children for life. She denounced Israel’s targeted strikes on schools run by United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), warning that an education gap will affect future generations. “There is no excuse for killing children regardless of their colour, race or affiliation,” she stated, stressing that “children’s rights are not just words”.

Israel “thirsts for blood,” said Syria’s representative, condemning the aggressor’s brutal crimes against children in Palestine, Lebanon and his country. Recalling Israeli strikes on a densely populated area of Damascus on 8 October, killing 9 people – including 3 girls – he urged the country to end its violent occupation of the Syrian Golan. He asserted that children in Syria have been killed, mutilated and forced into combat while the United States’ forces plunder its national wealth and deprive children of their needs through unilateral coercive measures.

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Since 7 October 2023, said the youth delegate of Israel, “The lives of countless children have been shattered beyond measure.” In a single day of terror, Israeli children were brutally murdered, orphaned and abducted. In addition, hundreds of thousands of families have been or are still being evacuated from their homes due to a threat of attacks from Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Iran. “This disruption of childhood extends beyond just physical displacement,” she underscored, adding that “the psychological toll of living under such constant threat is immeasurable, potentially leaving lasting scars on an entire generation”. On the children who have returned from Hamas captivity, she said they did not receive proper nutrition, stayed in spaces unfit for living for many days, and were psychologically and physically tortured. Also, she added, “We must not forget the children who are still in captivity”. Asking if any State has spoken about the situation of children in Israel, she called on delegates to acknowledge the plight of all conflict-affected children, including those in Israel.

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