https://arab.news/9745f
Those who had the misfortune of growing up in a war zone require no explanation. War is hell, it is true — but for children, it is something else entirely: a confusing and disorienting fate that defies comprehension.
There are children who live only briefly, experiencing whatever life manages to offer them: the love of parents, the camaraderie of siblings and the fragile joys and inevitable hardships of existence.
There are more than 20,000 children in this category, having been killed in Gaza over the span of about two years, according to figures released by the Gaza Health Ministry and repeatedly cited by UN agencies. Some were born and killed within a very short timeframe.
Others remain buried beneath the rubble of the destroyed Strip. According to humanitarian and forensic experts cited by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, about 4,000 children are still missing under collapsed buildings, with recovery efforts hindered by the scale of the destruction and a lack of equipment. In some cases, extreme heat, fire and the use of heavy weaponry have rendered identification nearly impossible, meaning that many of these children may never be properly accounted for, let alone mourned at a grave.
