A Palestinian boy sits near debris of a destroyed house following an Israeli strike. AFP
In a statement marking the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, the Palestinian resistance movement urged the international community to "criminalize" Israel over what it described as crimes against Palestinian children.
The movement also called for prosecuting Israeli leaders as war criminals.
It said Palestinian children were enduring a "real tragedy after the terrorist occupation entity launched a war of genocide, starvation, and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip."
Hamas stated that more than 21,000 children had been killed since the war began, including nearly 19,000 school-age children, more than 450 infants, and more than 5,000 children under the age of five.
It also said more than 44,000 children had been wounded, while around 58,000 had lost one or both parents during the conflict.
According to the statement, more than 200 children have died from hunger or exposure to cold weather in displacement camps, while many injured children require medical treatment outside Gaza.
Hamas further stated that 237 children had been killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the start of the war, and that Israeli authorities had arrested more than 1,655 minors.
The resistance group said more than 12,000 children in the northern West Bank were living in difficult conditions after being displaced by Israeli military operations.
"The annual observance of this day by the UN and the international community provides an important opportunity to highlight the suffering and pain endured by Palestinian children," Hamas said.
The movement called on international humanitarian and rights organizations to increase assistance to Palestinian children, including medical, educational, psychological, and social support.
Hamas affirmed that Palestinian children have endured hardships that "reflect a level of Zionist criminality that is unprecedented in modern times and [that] violates all international norms, conventions, and international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949."
The statement comes amid continuing international concern over the humanitarian impact of the conflict on children.
According to figures released by Palestinian health authorities, nearly 73,000 people have been killed and over 200,000 wounded in Gaza, mostly women and children, since the start of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.
International aid agencies have repeatedly warned that children have borne a disproportionate share of the consequences of the Israeli attacks through death, injury, displacement, malnutrition, and interruptions to education and healthcare.
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