Gaza: An international rights expert stated today that international laws and agreements designed to protect children have become meaningless in the face of ongoing crimes and violations committed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian children, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Director of the Accountability Program at Defense for Children International, highlighted the dire situation on Palestinian Children's Day. He reported that since the onset of Israeli aggression on October 7, 2023, approximately 200 children have been killed in the West Bank. Additionally, there have been numerous crimes against children imprisoned in Israeli detention centers.
Abu Eqtaish stressed that these violations impact every right of children recognized in international agreements, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This convention is supposed to ensure care and protection for children in conflict zones or under military occupation.
"In Gaza," Abu Eqtaish remarked, "there is no right left for children that hasn't been stripped away, whether it is the right to life, education, health, or others." He argued that international laws and agreements regarding child protection have become nothing more than ink on paper due to the ongoing Israeli actions against Palestinian children, especially in Gaza.
He further emphasized that "these crimes occur in full view of the world, with no intervention to protect, turning international laws into mere words in the face of Israel's criminal machine."
