The Children's War

No matter where we look, in the war between Israel and Hamas, children are everywhere. They are almost half of the 15,000 killed in Gaza under the bombs, and many of the amputees and those buried under the rubble; at least 29 were killed in Hamas attacks on 7 October; they are among the Israeli hostages released and Palestinian prisoners released by the Israeli Government. We see them leaving the Strip, never to return home, and in Israel waiting for their relatives who are being held. Surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sitta, a British Palestinian, has just returned to the UK after working in Gaza and insists this is a war on children.

A month ago, the NGO Save the Children said more children had been killed in Israel's attacks than in all the world's wars combined in the past three years. Since then, the number has been rising, and aid workers have run out of metaphors: the Gaza Strip is a vast grave of children. Gaza is hell. They haven't seen anything like it. Their parents can't protect them, their schools no longer exist. Doctors have no way to cure them.

Some children have become international symbols, such as Abigail Edan, the first American-Israeli hostage freed by Hamas. She just turned four and watched as the Islamist militia killed her parents before kidnapping her. U.S. President Joe Biden focused on it to pressure the Netanyahu government for a temporary ceasefire. On the Palestinian side, the victims are so many that, paradoxically, the world does not put a face to them. The exception is Ahed Tamimi, who is now 22 years old and has been in jail several times. On Wednesday, she was one of the prisoners released in exchange for hostages. At just 11 years old, Tamimi caught the attention of the international media for confronting Israeli soldiers with her fist raised. Since then, she has been one of the best-known activists against the illegal settler occupation and the army's abuses of Palestinian children. Because although Israel has released some, hundreds of children and adolescents are still in jail without knowing why, detained without charge or trial.

While the politicians work to extend the truce, the kids take advantage and live. Cuddling their pets in Israel, splashing on the beach in Gaza without fear of being shot. You have to think about all of them to outline the day after. Israel has a strong infrastructure to accompany its children, but the Palestinians do not. A 15-year-old boy from Gaza has already lived through five wars between Israel and Hamas. Even if it were only thinking about the military, the best strategy for Israel's future is to support these children, not abandon them.

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