{"id":48991,"date":"2026-07-03T12:30:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T19:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48991"},"modified":"2026-07-03T12:30:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T19:30:34","slug":"1022-babies-among-21500-children-killed-by-israel-in-1000-days-of-gaza-genocide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/03\/1022-babies-among-21500-children-killed-by-israel-in-1000-days-of-gaza-genocide\/","title":{"rendered":"1,022 Babies Among 21,500+ Children Killed by Israel in 1,000 Days of Gaza Genocide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Palestinians mourn an infant who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah on January 9, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Ali Jadallah\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe could die at any moment. I hope the war stops for us,\u201d said one 14-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza. \u201cI would like to live with love, peace, and an easy life.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jul 02, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 21,500 children\u20141,022 of them babies\u2014are among the more than 73,000 Palestinians<\/a> killed by Israel since it launched the US-backed genocidal war on Gaza<\/a> 1,000 days ago, including hundreds of minors slain since a one-way ceasefire took effect nine months ago, Gaza\u2019s Government Media Office said<\/a> Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In updated figures, the GMO<\/a> said that at least 73,066 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its war and siege on the Gaza<\/a> Strip on October 7, 2023. A separate analysis published<\/a> in mid-April by UN Women found that at least 38,000 women and girls were killed between October 2023 and December 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Power-Outages-Nasser-Medical-Complex-Khan-Yunis\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

30% of Those Killed in Gaza Genocide Were Children, Many From \u2018Deliberate\u2019 Targeting: UN Commission<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Dead-Infant-Funeral-IDF-Shooting-Hebron\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Israeli Military Kills Palestinian Baby and Wounds Parents in West Bank<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The GMO said Thursday that at least 173,514 others\u2014including more than 44,500 children\u2014have been wounded, and 9,500 Palestinians are still missing and presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of bombed-out buildings in the coastal strip, more than 90% of which has been destroyed<\/a> and 80% of which is under Israeli control, according to officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(Source: Gaza Government Media Office)<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 11,000 Gazan children<\/a> have suffered what the United Nations<\/a> Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF<\/a>) called<\/a> \u201clife-changing injuries,\u201d including as many as 4,000 amputations, many of them performed without anesthesia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery day for the past 1,000 days, the world has failed 1 million children in Gaza by not intervening to stop the killing and maiming of children,\u201d <\/strong>Ahmad Ahendawi, regional director at the charity Save the Children, said<\/a> Thursday. \u201cAs their young, fragile bodies were blown to bits and pieces by bombs and missiles, the world sold those same weapons to the government of Israel [and]… continued trade<\/a> agreements with the government of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early in the war, UNICEF called<\/a> Gaza \u201cthe world\u2019s most dangerous place to be a child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classified Israel Defense Forces<\/a> (IDF) data leaked<\/a> last August suggested that 5 in 6 Palestinians, or 83%, killed during the war\u2019s first 19 months were civilians. Experts attribute the high civilian death toll to Israel\u2019s use of artificial intelligence<\/a> in target selection, its dropping<\/a> of 1,000- and 2,000-pound bombs\u2014many of them supplied by the US<\/a>\u2014in densely populated urban zones, and relaxed rules of engagement<\/a> allowing for an unlimited number of noncombatant casualties in airstrikes targeting a single Hamas<\/a> operative, no matter how low-ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, a United Nations commission of inquiry found<\/a> that 30% of those killed by Israel in Gaza have been minors, and that \u201cthe deliberate targeting of children is one of the key elements establishing genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission, which separately concluded<\/a> that Israel is committing genocide<\/a> in Gaza, used language consistent with Article II of the Genocide Convention<\/a>, the international treaty against which Israel\u2019s actions are being weighed by the International Court of Justice<\/a> in The Hague. In December 2023, South Africa<\/a> filed a genocide case<\/a> against Israel at the ICJ that is now formally backed by around 20 nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IDF troops have admitted to witnessing alleged war crimes<\/a>, including indiscriminate murder<\/a> of women and children. Doctors and other international volunteers who worked in Gaza\u2019s besieged hospitals<\/a> during the genocide have reported<\/a> the apparently deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians, including children shot in the head and chest by Israeli snipers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palestinian survivors and witnesses have also accused<\/a> IDF troops of summarily executing women and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery day for the past 1,000 days, the world has failed 1 million children in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new GMO figures note 460 deaths from malnutrition<\/a>\u2014164 of them children\u2014and 28 Palestinians, mostly children, who perished from hypothermia<\/a> in camps housing many of the approximately 2 million people forcibly displaced by the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to figures published last month by UNICEF, more than 1,000 Palestinians, including at least 265 children, have been killed by Israeli bombs and bullets since the October 2025 ceasefire took effect. UNICEF called<\/a> the purported truce a \u201ccruel and deadly illusion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack in which approximately 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed\u2014some by so-called \u201cfriendly fire<\/a>\u201d and under the fratricidal Hannibal Directive<\/a>\u2014and 251 others abducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the aftermath of the deadliest attack on Israel in its 75-year history, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2014who is wanted<\/a> by the International Criminal Court<\/a> (ICC<\/a>) in The Hague for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including murder and forced starvation<\/a>\u2014exhorted Israelis to \u201cremember what Amalek has done to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Hebrew Bible, the nation of Amalek<\/a> was an ancient archenemy of the Israelites whose total extermination\u2014\u201cman and woman, infant and suckling\u201d\u2014was commanded by the Abrahamic deity figure God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numerous Israeli leaders made similarly genocidal statements, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who asserted that there are no innocent people in Gaza, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant\u2014who is also wanted by the ICC for ordering<\/a> the \u201ccomplete siege\u201d of Gaza blamed for fueling<\/a> deadly famine<\/a> and disease<\/a>\u2014and the influential far-right politician Moshe Feiglin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery child in Gaza is the enemy,\u201d Feiglin said<\/a> last year. \u201cWe need to occupy Gaza and settle it, and not a single Gazan child will be left there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the new GMO figures, 39,022 families in Gaza have suffered Israeli massacres, with more than 2,700 families entirely wiped out<\/a> and another 6,020 left with only a single surviving member. More than 58,800 children have been orphaned<\/a>, including 2,700 who lost both parents, while 26,370 women are now widows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, Save the Children published a report detailing<\/a> how Israel\u2019s onslaught has caused the \u201ccomplete psychological destruction\u201d of Gazan children. A subsequent study found<\/a> that nearly all children in the embattled Palestinian enclave believed that their deaths were imminent\u2014and nearly half of them said they wanted to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe could die at any moment. I hope the war stops for us,\u201d a 14-year-old girl identified as Amani told Save the Children in a report published Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope the war stops so that I can continue my education in Gaza and live my rights as a human like any girl in other countries,\u201d she added. \u201cI would like to live with love, peace, and an easy life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Palestinians mourn an infant who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah on January 9, 2025. \u00a0(Photo by Ali Jadallah\/Anadolu via Getty Images) \u201cWe could die at any moment. I hope the war stops for us,\u201d said one 14-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza. \u201cI would like to live… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1880],"tags":[1191],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48991"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48991"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48992,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48991\/revisions\/48992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}