AMMAN: Around 40 children have been killed and many injured in one year of demonstrations along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, the UN said Thursday, calling for an “urgent de-escalation.”
Thousands of Palestinians have gathered at least weekly along the border in protests that have led to deadly clashes with the Israeli military.
Demonstrators are calling for Israel to lift its crippling decade-long blockade of Gaza, while also demanding refugees be allowed to return to homes their families fled in the late 1940s during the creation of the Jewish state.
Around 40 children have been killed in the protests and “nearly 3,000 others have been hospitalized with injuries, many leading to life-long disabilities,” the UN children’s agency (UNICEF) said.
“UNICEF reiterates its outrage at the very high numbers of children who have been killed and injured as a result of armed conflict 2018,” said UNICEF’s Middle East director Geert Cappelaere.
He called on both sides to “ensure children are not targeted.”
“Exploiting children’s lack of sense of purpose and vulnerabilities or enlisting them into violence are violations of children’s rights.”
In total, 258 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the protests began, most during border clashes.
Two Israeli soldiers have also been killed over the same period.
Israel says its response is necessary to defend the border and accuses Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars, of orchestrating violence there.
The UNICEF statement follows another severe flare-up this week between Hamas and Israel, with a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip that sparked retaliatory air strikes.
A mass border protest planned for Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the demonstrations has raised fears of further tensions.
40 children killed in year of Gaza border protests: UNICEF
40 children killed in year of Gaza border protests: UNICEF
- Around 40 children have been killed in the protests and “nearly 3,000 others have been hospitalized with injuries
More than 80 countries condemn new Israeli rules in West Bank, invoke the ‘New York Declaration’
- Surrounded by nations’ representatives, Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour reads statement at UN HQ denouncing the measures as ‘contrary to Israel’s obligations under international law’
- Critics say the steps — including expansion of Israeli settlements, legalization of outposts, direct land purchases by settlers, removal of oversight — amount to de facto annexation
NEW YORK CITY: More than 80 countries and several international organizations on Tuesday condemned what they described as unilateral decisions and measures taken by Israeli authorities with the aim of expanding their “unlawful” presence in the occupied West Bank.
Surrounded by more than 80 representatives of the nations and groups, Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, read a joint statement in which they said: “Such decisions are contrary to Israel’s obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed.”
Israel this month approved significant new measures that tighten its control of the occupied West Bank, focusing in particular on accelerating the process of registering land in a part of the territory known as Area C as “state property.”
The new steps, which critics say amount to de facto annexation, include the legalization of outposts, expansion of Israeli settlements, authorization for direct land purchases by settlers, and the removal of oversight on such transactions.
In their statement, the countries and organizations stressed their “strong opposition to any form of annexation.”
They continued: “We reiterate our rejection of all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.
“Such measures violate international law, undermine the ongoing efforts for peace and stability in the region, run counter to the comprehensive plan, and jeopardize the prospect of reaching a peace agreement ending the conflict.”
They reaffirmed their determination “to take concrete measures in accordance with international law, and in line with the relevant UN resolutions and the July 19 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, to help realize the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and to counter the illegal settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and policies and threats of forcible displacement.”
This stance is reflected, they said, in the 2025 New York Declaration, a UN-endorsed initiative proposed, following a conference in July 2025, by France and Saudi Arabia with the aim of reviving efforts to achieve a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
“We reiterate that a just and lasting peace on the basis of the relevant UN resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, including the principle of land for peace, and the Arab Peace Initiative, ending the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and implementing the two-state solution — where two democratic states, an independent and sovereign Palestine and Israel, live side by side in peace and security within their secure and recognized borders on the basis of the 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem — remains the only path to ensure security and stability in the region,” they added.
