Human Rights watch
Gaza: Effect of conflict on children is 'devestating'
The United Nations body monitoring a key global treaty enshrining the rights of children voiced its deep concern today at the impact of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which has killed or injured hundreds of young people, and warned that the effects of recent events on an entire generation of children will be severe.
“The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child is deeply concerned at the devastating effects that the current military engagement in Gaza is having on children,” the 18-member body said in a statement issued in Geneva, where it is currently in session.
“Hundreds of children have been killed or injured, many seriously. Many others have lost their loved ones. The continuous fighting and destruction of livelihoods and basic infrastructures, severely compromise enjoyment of human rights especially in relation to health, education and family life,” the Committee added.
Over 40 per cent of the nearly 900 Palestinians killed in the Israeli offensive, launched on 27 December with the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks into Israel, and almost half of the 3,860 wounded, are women and children, according to reports cited as credible by the UN.
The Committee stressed that the rights enshrined in the Convention, including the right of children to life, survival and development and to be protected from all forms of violence, have been “blatantly violated during this crisis.” It recalled that human rights law, including the Convention, applies at all times, including in situations of armed conflict.
The Committee said this affirmation is undermined by the fact that many children have lost their lives as a result of “manifest disrespect” for their protection and that of their schools, including some administered by the United Nations itself.
Source: UN News Centre.
