Gaza’s stolen childhood – Who were the thousands of children Israel killed?

Aljazeera.com

INTERACTIVE - Gaza children killed Israel outside 16by9-1742978742
(Al Jazeera)

By Mohamed A. Hussein and Mohammed Haddad Published On 26 Mar 202526 Mar 2025

Israel kills a child in Gaza every 45 minutes.

That is an average of 30 children killed every day over the past 535 days. ​

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed at least 17,400 children, including 15,600 who have been identified. Many more remain buried under the rubble, most presumed dead.

Many of the surviving children have endured the trauma of multiple wars, and all of them have spent their lives under the oppressive shadow of an Israeli blockade, affecting every aspect of their existence from birth.

What is left of Gaza’s children?

About half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are children.

Over the past 17 months, Israeli attacks have left their homes in ruins, destroyed their schools, and overwhelmed their healthcare facilities.

To put this in perspective, if you had a room of 100 children:

  • 2 have been killed
  • 2 are missing, presumed dead
  • 3 have been wounded, many critically
  • 5 have been orphaned or separated from their parents
  • 5 require treatment for acute malnutrition

The rest of the children bear the invisible scars of war, trauma that affects their mental health, safety and future.

INTERACTIVE - Gaza children killed Israel what is left-1742978814
(Al Jazeera)

Who were these children Israel killed?

They were the sons and daughters of Gaza, each with a life that should have been filled with innocence and the joy of childhood.

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Letters from the great Frontline – Những Lá Thư Từ Tiền Tuyến Lớn

[See English translation below ]

Dưới đây mình chép lại một lá thư của liệt sĩ Đồng Thế Thức, gửi từ chiến trường (miền Nam) cho cha mẹ và gia đình ở miền Bắc trong thời gian kháng chiến chống Mỹ những năm 1970s.

Liệt sĩ Đồng Thế Thức là bác ruột của mình, bác là anh trai của mẹ. Bác Thức sinh năm 1942, lớn hơn mẹ 14 tuổi. Bác học xong cấp 3 là nhập ngũ. Theo mẹ kể lại, bác Thức hy sinh vào khoảng năm 1974 tại Tây Ninh. Bức thư này không ghi rõ ngày tháng, nhưng theo mẹ kể có lẽ bác viết tầm năm 1973. Trong thư bác nói về niềm tin ngày thống nhất đang rất gần rồi, “con sẽ trở về trên chuyến tàu Sài Gòn – Hà Nội”. Thêm nữa thời chiến, liên lạc rất khó khăn, cho nên có khi gửi thư cả vài năm mới đến được tay người nhà nên không biết chính xác thư viết khi nào. Đây là một bức thư hiếm hoi bác gửi về được tới gia đình trong những năm chiến đấu ở chiến trường miền Nam.

Lá thư này có đề địa chỉ là hòm thư. 86558YK – B11. Thời đó khi nói đến đi Bê (B) tức là đi vào chiến trường miền Nam. Từ năm 1960, các khu vực tác chiến quân sự có  tên gọi quy ước A là miền Bắc, B là miền Nam, C là Lào và Đ là Cam pu chia (sau đổi thành K). Tất cả cán bộ từ Bắc đi B đều phải đi theo những con đường tuyệt bí mật, không ai biết đường đi của ai. Hơn nữa, bác Thức đóng quân tại Tây Ninh, là nơi căn cứ của Trung Ương Cục Kháng Chiến Miền Nam, phải cực kỳ bí mật không thể biên thư tuỳ tiện để lộ tung tích. Những ai đi B là dù không nói, là biết không hẹn ngày trở về.

Trong thư có một số chữ bị mờ nhìn không còn rõ. Mình cố gắng chép lại để nguyên văn từng dấu chấm, phẩy, dấu cảm thán. Có một số câu đọc nghe có vẻ không hoàn chỉnh. Điều này có lẽ là do, như trong như bác nói, lá thư phải viết trong hoàn cảnh nhanh và rất vội để gửi cho người quen mang ra ngoài Bắc. Vì cơ hội này không hề dễ dàng gặp được trong chiến trường. Cho nên phải viết thật nhanh và vội, vì vậy có lẽ cũng rất nhiều hồi hộp và cảm xúc. 

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Soldiers Of Fortune: Mercenaries From China, Nepal Fight In Russia-Ukraine War

00:00 Introduction

01:54 Why one Nepali man joined into the Russian army 04:07 Is this human trafficking?

05:45 Nepali soldiers fighting for foreign armies

07:36 Chinese mercenaries share their experiences on Douyin

12:51 Fighters from Central Asia killed on the frontlines

13:55 Kyrgyz prisoners summoned to war

15:55 What happened to a fallen Kyrgyz prisoner?

19:29 A contract only in Russian with a hidden clause

22:35 Amateur soldiers face the horrors of war

25:03 Mercenaries captured by Ukraine

26:08 Inside a Ukrainian POW camp

26:58 Why one POW joined the Russian army

28:19 Infantry soldier turned POW

29:16 Russia is not claiming its POWs

30:38 Mercenary’s family hopes for his return to Nepal

33:51 Prisoners promised freedom if they survived

36:04 Arrested in Kyrgyzstan for participating in a foreign war

36:53 Russia’s influence in Central Asia

38:22 Nepali activists fight to bring their men home

39:41 Hunting for a missing Nepali mercenary

41:58 Families meet with members of parliament

43:58 What are the mercenaries doing now?

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About Undercover Asia: CNA’s award-winning investigative series Undercover Asia uncovers the hard truths in the underbelly of Asia, and exposes the unintended fallout of change in the fast-moving continent.

Atomic Bomb Survivors Win Nobel Peace Prize, Say Gaza Today Is Like Japan 80 Years Ago

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Toshiyuki Mimaki: “I thought the prize would go to those working hard in Gaza. In Gaza, bleeding children are being held by their parents. It’s like Japan 80 years ago.” 36,000 tons of explosives were dropped on Hiroshima/Nagasaki 82,000 tons have been dropped on Gaza

A Japanese group of atomic bomb survivors, Nihon Hidankyo, has won the Nobel Peace Prize as fears grow of a new nuclear arms race. The head of the group has compared Gaza today to Japan 80 years ago when the U.S. bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We feature a Democracy Now! interview with Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and an anti-nuclear activist, and get response from Joseph Gerson, president of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, a U.S. nuclear disarmament activist who has spent decades working closely with the group.

Laos Maps Showing Sites of US Bombings Resurface: ‘Kissinger’s Legacy’

newsweek.com By Ellie Cook Security & Defense Reporter

Resurfaced maps showing the heavy Cold War bombardment of Laos have fed the controversial legacy of diplomatic giant Henry Kissinger following his death.

Kissinger, a former secretary of state and national security adviser who is credited with shaping decades of U.S. foreign policy, died at his Connecticut home aged 100 on Wednesday.

Kissinger “played central roles in the opening to China, negotiating the end of the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East, and helping to bring America’s role in the Vietnam War to a close,” the diplomat’s international geopolitical consulting firm said in a statement on his passing.

The influential diplomat won the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize along with Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho “for jointly having negotiated a cease-fire in Vietnam in 1973.” The latter declined the prize.

But as tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers died in Vietnam, anger in the U.S. was also spurred on by the extensive bombing of neighboring countries Laos and Cambodia.

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on September 22, 1992 in Washington. Newly resurfaced maps showing the heavy Cold War bombardment of Laos feed the controversial legacy of diplomatic giant Henry Kissinger following his death on Wednesday.ROBERT GIROUX/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The U.S. was attempting to disrupt a logistics chain — known as the Ho Chi Minh trail — running from Laos into Vietnam, which was used by North Vietnamese forces.

Laos is the most bombed country in the world. Between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. dropped more than 270 million bombs on the country, which had a population of around 3 million at the time.

U.S. aircraft dropped a new wave of bombs on Laos every eight minutes for nearly 10 years on average.

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International calls for cease-fire in Gaza grow louder

As calls grow louder for a Gaza ceasefire, Netanyahu is providing few clues about his strategy or post-war plans

11/12/2023 November 12, 2023

DW.com Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to oppose a cease-fire despite pleas from around the world. In the meantime, more than 200 hostages are still being held captive by Hamas, and civilian casualties in Gaza are growing amid Israel’s ongoing offensive.

theconversation.com

More than five weeks into Israel’s war with Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not outlined his future vision for Gaza.

He has said many times the war will continue until Hamas is eradicated. But his battle plan for achieving that objective is far from clear.

As calls grow louder around the world for a ceasefire, Israel is finding itself under increasing pressure to respond. This is placing more scrutiny on Netanyahu’s overall strategy for prosecuting the war – and what could happen after it’s over.

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What Is Peacekeeping?

cfr.org

In this free resource on the successes and failures of peacekeeping, learn about the UN missions tasked with transitioning countries out of war.

Peacekeeper troops deployed in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei patrol Abeyi state, a disputed territory between Sudan and South Sudan.

Peacekeeper troops deployed in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei patrol Abeyi state, a disputed territory between Sudan and South Sudan.

Source: Albert Gonzalez Farran/AFP via Getty Images.SHARE

Teaching Resources—Tools of Foreign Policy: Introduction (including lesson plan with slides)
Higher Education Discussion Guide 

The world lacks a global police force capable of stopping violence in its tracks. However, it does have UN peacekeepers, who can help wind down conflicts and prevent them from recurring.

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Jewish New Yorkers occupy Statue of Liberty to demand Israel-Gaza ceasefire

aljazeera.com

Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace group unfurl banners reading ‘Palestinians should be free’ at the base of New York landmark.

Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace occupy the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty
Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace occupy the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. [Stephanie Keith/Getty Images via AFP]

Published On 7 Nov 20237 Nov 2023

Hundreds of US Jewish activists have peacefully occupied New York’s Statue of Liberty to demand an end to Israel’s “genocidal bombardment” of civilians in Gaza and a ceasefire.

Dressed in black T-shirts emblazoned with the slogans “Jews demand ceasefire now” or “Not in our name”, the protesters from the Jewish Voice for Peace group on Monday unfurled banners reading “The whole world is watching” and “Palestinians should be free” at the base of New York’s landmark.

It was the latest pro-Palestinian protest to take place in the United States since the start of the war a month ago.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of demonstrators, gathered in Washington, DC to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and to denounce US policy of support for Israel.

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