What will become of war-devastated Gaza’s orphaned children?

What will become of war-devastated Gaza’s orphaned children?
Palestinian children attend a recreational summer 'Hope Camp' for orphaned children, which is supported by Americans for Palestinian Children, at the Jabalia Rehabilitation Society in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on July 27, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 26 August 2024
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What will become of war-devastated Gaza’s orphaned children?

What will become of war-devastated Gaza’s orphaned children?
  • Unaccompanied minors face hunger and exploitation as aid agencies struggle to meet growing humanitarian needs
  • Orphaned children going through “loneliness, emotional deprivation, lack of care,” mental health specialists warn

LONDON: Terrorized, grieving, starved, and homeless, thousands of unaccompanied children in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip are enduring unimaginable horrors amid a dire humanitarian crisis — all without the care and protection of a parent or guardian.

UN Women estimated in April that Israel’s military operation in Gaza, which began on Oct. 7 in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, had left at least 19,000 children without one or both parents.




Baby boy Omar Al-Qadiri, who lost his family in the Israeli attack on the Et-Tabiin School in Gaza City, is treated at Kemal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza, on Aug. 19, 2024. (Anadolu via Getty Images)

The UK-based charity Oxfam has described the war in Gaza as “one of the deadliest conflicts of the 21st century,” with a death toll now in excess of 40,170 — among them at least 25,000 women and children, according to Gaza’s health authority.

In February, the UN children’s fund, UNICEF, declared the Gaza Strip “the most dangerous place in the world to be a child.”

Children in Gaza have suffered life-changing injuries under Israel’s bombardment. Many lack access to medical care and suffer malnutrition, psychological distress, and infectious diseases, including polio, hepatitis A, and various skin conditions




BabyAsmaa Ajour, who lost her entire family in an Israeli army attack on Saraya crossroads, is treated for injuries at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza. (Anadolu via Getty Images)

UNICEF said in June that one in three children in Gaza is acutely malnourished, warning that at least 3,000 of them in the enclave’s south are at risk of dying from starvation.

“Horrific images continue to emerge from Gaza of children dying before their families’ eyes due to the continued lack of food, nutrition supplies, and the destruction of healthcare services,” Adele Khodr, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.

She described the situation as a “senseless, man-made deprivation.”

Meanwhile, the New York-based monitor Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli government of starving civilians as a “method of warfare” — claims the Israeli government has denied.




Palestinian children queue at a water distribution point in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip on August 25, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (AFP) 

These horrors are all the more terrifying for the thousands of children separated from their caregivers and forced to fend for themselves.

“Children who have lost or been separated from their families are facing unimaginable hardships as they struggle to survive without adult care,” Ahmad Baroudi, media manager for Save the Children’s office in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, told Arab News.

INNUMBERS

• 19,000+ Have lost one or both parents.

* 16,480+ Killed in the conflict since Oct. 7.

Sources: UN/MoH/Save the Children

“In many cases, older siblings or extended family members are stepping in to provide what little support they can, often in the most desperate conditions. However, these children are extremely vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and neglect, as well as the severe psychological trauma of being alone in such a hostile environment.”

Although humanitarian organizations “are working tirelessly to reach these children, offering emergency shelter, food, and psychosocial support,” Baroudi said the scale of need “far outstrips the resources available.

“The situation is dire, and without immediate and sustained intervention, the survival of these children remains at grave risk.”




Shereen al-Bozom, a Palestinian speech therapist who launched an initiative to treat children suffering from conflict-induced trauma and speech impediments, treats a child at her makeshift clinic in a classroom of the Fakhura school in Gaza Strip on Aug. 14, 2024. (AFP)

There are also many unaccompanied minors held in Israeli jails. The Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs reports that Israel has detained an unknown number of children from Gaza since Oct. 7, in addition to more than 650 arrested in the West Bank.

Released child detainees say they have been subjected to different methods of torture, including physical and sexual abuse, strip searches, and cruel treatment, like being made to stand in the heat for extended periods, according to Save the Children.

“Torture, cruel or inhuman treatment of children is strictly prohibited under international law,” the charity said in a July statement.

In June, the UN added Israel to its global list of states and armed groups involved in “the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated against children, attacks on schools, hospitals and protected persons.”

Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad were also added to the list.




An injured child is seen at the 'Orphan City' camp established by a charity organization for Palestinian children who lost their entire families as a result of the Israeli army's attacks on July 09, 2024 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. (Anadolu via Getty Images)

The US-based International Rescue Committee said last week it was concerned that the actual number of unaccompanied minors in Gaza was far higher than current UN estimates.

A UN survey in April found that since Oct. 7, some 41 percent of families in Gaza had been caring for children who were not their own.

While nongovernmental organizations are providing critical services such as food distribution, healthcare, and psychosocial support to minors, Save the Children’s Baroudi said “the scale of the crisis means that many are left without the help they desperately need.

“The limited resources and barriers to access mean that only a fraction of the suffering can be alleviated at this time, leaving countless people, especially children, in life-threatening situations.”

International humanitarian and human rights organizations, along with several governments, have repeatedly called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages.

If a permanent ceasefire is reached soon, Baroudi believes “the future of the orphans who survive will depend on the international community’s commitment to long-term support and reconstruction efforts.

“These children will need comprehensive care that goes beyond immediate survival needs,” he said. “This includes safe and stable housing, continued access to education, healthcare, and mental health services to help them recover from the profound trauma they have endured.”

He added: “Efforts will need to be made to reunite them with any surviving family members or to place them in protective environments where they can receive the care and support they need to rebuild their lives.

“Without sustained international support, these orphans risk falling through the cracks, facing a lifetime of instability and vulnerability.”




Children look for salvageable items in the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli bombardment al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 24, 2024. (AFP)

Sahar Alhabaj, an occupational therapist at a UK mental health facility, said that unaccompanied and orphaned children in Gaza “are suffering from loneliness, emotional deprivation, and lack of care due to the absence of their families.”

These emotional challenges are aggravated by “their inability to understand deep concepts like death and comprehend the emotions associated with this concept, such as sadness and fear,” she told Arab News.

While those children may be “physically safe” once a permanent ceasefire is reached, Alhabaj said “they might suffer from long-term traumatic stress or personality disorders.”

Audrey McMahon, a child psychiatrist with Medecins Sans Frontieres, warned in June that the “entire population of children and teenagers in Gaza — more than 1 million people — will need mental health support” once the war ends.

After seeing firsthand the impact of the war on children, she told MSF: “In Palestine, there’s never a ‘post’ in post-traumatic stress syndrome. It’s ongoing trauma, it’s protracted trauma, it’s one war after the other.”

She added: “These children are human beings that have the same right to have a life lived in peace, to have access to good food, to grow healthy. They should have a right to have dreams and hope for the future.

“Children are born where they’re born, and it doesn’t make them belong to any type of group. They are just children.”
 


UN could meet with Israel PM despite warrant: UN

UN could meet with Israel PM despite warrant: UN
Updated 22 November 2024
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UN could meet with Israel PM despite warrant: UN

UN could meet with Israel PM despite warrant: UN
  • UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Netanyahu have not spoken since the war started
  • UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UN policy on contacts with people facing arrest warrants dates back to a document issued in 2013

UNITED NATIONS: The arrest warrant issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Gaza does not bar UN officials from meeting with him in the course of their work, the UN said Thursday.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Netanyahu have not spoken since the war started as a result of the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, although there have been contacts with the Israeli leader by UN officials in the region.
Guterres has been declared persona non grata by Israel, which accuses him of being biased in favor of the Palestinians. So talks between him and Netanyahu are very unlikely.
After the warrants issued Thursday by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UN policy on contacts with people facing arrest warrants dates back to a document issued in 2013.
“The rule is that there should not be any contacts between UN officials and individuals subject to arrest warrants,” Dujarric said.
But limited contacts are allowed “to address fundamental issues, operational issues, and our ability to carry out our mandates,” he added.
In late October, at a summit of the BRICS countries in Russia, Guterres met with President Vladimir Putin, who faces an arrest warrant from the ICP over the war in Ukraine.
That meeting, during which Guterres reiterated his condemnation of the Russian invasion, angered Ukraine.


Palestinians welcome ICC arrest warrants for Israeli PM and former defense minister

Palestinians welcome ICC arrest warrants for Israeli PM and former defense minister
Updated 22 November 2024
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Palestinians welcome ICC arrest warrants for Israeli PM and former defense minister

Palestinians welcome ICC arrest warrants for Israeli PM and former defense minister
  • Palestinian Authority calls on UN member states to ensure the warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, who are accused of war crimes, are acted upon
  • The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrel, says decision is ‘binding’ on all members of the International Criminal Court

LONDON: Palestinians welcomed the decision by the International Criminal Court on Thursday to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former minister of defense, Yoav Gallant.

The Palestinian Authority said the court’s decision comes as Israeli forces continue to bomb Gaza in a conflict that has killed nearly 45,000 Palestinians since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, and it hopes the ruling will help to restore faith in international law, the official Palestinian WAFA news agency reported.

Netanyahu and Gallant are the first leading officials from a nation allied with the West against whom the ICC has issued arrest warrants since the court was established in July 2002. It also issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif, the head of the military wing of Hamas. Israeli authorities said in August he was killed by their forces in an attack the previous month, though Hamas have not confirmed this.

All three men are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their actions during the war in Gaza or the Oct. 7 attacks.

The PA said the decision to issue warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant was important because Palestinians “are being subjected to genocide and war crimes, represented by starvation as a method of warfare,” as well as mass displacement and collective punishment.

The PA, which signed up to the ICC in 2015, called on all UN member states to ensure the warrants are acted upon and to “cut off contact and meetings with the international wanted men, Netanyahu and Gallant.” Israel is not a member of the ICC.

The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrel, posted a message on social media platform X on Thursday in which he described the court’s decisions as “binding” on all those who have signed up to it.

“These decisions are binding on all states party to the Rome Statute (the treaty that established the ICC), which includes all EU member states,” he wrote.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister who has spent 17 years in office during three spells in charge since 1996, denounced the decision by the ICC to issue the warrant as “antisemitic.”

He said it would “have serious consequences for the court and those who will cooperate with it in this matter.”


Between bomb craters: Taxis stuck on war-hit Lebanon-Syria border

Between bomb craters: Taxis stuck on war-hit Lebanon-Syria border
Updated 21 November 2024
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Between bomb craters: Taxis stuck on war-hit Lebanon-Syria border

Between bomb craters: Taxis stuck on war-hit Lebanon-Syria border

MASNAA, Lebanon: Stuck in no man’s land on the war-hit Lebanon-Syria border, cab driver Fadi Slika now scrapes a living ferrying passengers between two deep craters left by Israeli air strikes.

The journey is just 2 km, but Slika has no other choice — his taxi is his only source of income.

“My car is stuck between craters: I can’t reach Lebanon or return to Syria. Meanwhile, we’re under threat of (Israeli) bombardment,” said the 56-year-old.

“I work and sleep here between the two holes,” he said.

A dual Lebanese-Syrian national, Slika has been living in his car, refusing to abandon it when it broke down until a mechanic brought a new engine.

His taxi is one of the few that has been operating between the two craters since Israeli strikes in October effectively blocked traffic on the Masnaa crossing.

The bombed area has become a boon for drivers of tuk-tuks, who can navigate the craters easily. 

A makeshift stall, the Al-Joura (pit in Arabic) rest house, and a shop are set up nearby.

Slika went for 12 days without work while waiting for his taxi to be fixed. The car has become his home. A warm blanket covers its rear seats against eastern Lebanon’s cold winters, and a big bag of pita bread sits on the passenger side.

Before being stranded, Slika made about $100 for trips from Beirut to Damascus.

Now, an average fare between the craters is just $5.50 each way, though he said he charged more.

On Sept. 23, Israel intensified its aerial bombing of Lebanon and later sent in ground troops, nearly a year after Hezbollah initiated limited exchanges of fire in support of Hamas amid the Gaza war.

Since then, Israel has bombed several land crossings with Syria out of service. 

It accuses Hezbollah of using what are key routes for people fleeing the war in Lebanon to transfer weapons from Syria.

Amid the hardship of the conflict, more than 610,000 people have fled from Lebanon to Syria, mostly Syrians, according to Lebanese authorities.

Undeterred by attacks, travelers still trickle through Masnaa, traversing the two craters that measure about 10 meters deep and 30 meters wide.

On the other side of the road, Khaled Khatib, 46, was fixing his taxi, its tires splattered with mud and hood coated in dust.

“After the first strike, I drove from Syria and parked my car before the crater. When the second strike hit, I got stuck between the two holes,” he said, sweat beading as he looked under the hood.

“We used to drive people from Damascus to Beirut. Now, we take them from one crater to another.”

Khatib doesn’t charge passengers facing tough times, he said, adding he had been displaced from southern Beirut, hammered by Israeli raids since September. He moved back to his hometown near the Masnaa crossing.

Despite harsh times, a sense of camaraderie reigns.

The drivers “became like brothers. We eat together at the small stall every day ... and we help each other fix our cars,” he said.

Mohamed Yassin moved his coffee stall from the Masnaa crossing closer to the pit after the strike, offering breakfast, lunch, and coffee. “We try to help people as much as possible,” he said.

Farther from the Lebanese border, travelers crossed the largest of the two crevasses, wearing plastic coverings on their shoes to avoid slipping in the mud.

A cab driver on a mound called out, “Taxi to Damascus!” while tuk-tuks and trucks ferried passengers, bags, and mattresses across.

Nearby, Aida Awda Mubarak, a Syrian mother of six, haggled with a tuk-tuk driver over the $1 fare.

The 52-year-old said she was out of work and needed to see her son after the east Lebanon town where he lives was hit by Israeli strikes.

“Sometimes we just can’t afford to pay for a tuk-tuk or a cab,” she said.


Netanyahu says ICC warrant won’t stop Israel defending itself

Netanyahu says ICC warrant won’t stop Israel defending itself
Updated 21 November 2024
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Netanyahu says ICC warrant won’t stop Israel defending itself

Netanyahu says ICC warrant won’t stop Israel defending itself
  • “No outrageous anti-Israel decision will prevent us — and it will not prevent me — from continuing to defend our country in every way,” Netanyahu said
  • The premier is accused alongside his former defense minister Yoav Gallant of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity“

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court over his conduct of the Gaza war would not stop him defending Israel.
“No outrageous anti-Israel decision will prevent us — and it will not prevent me — from continuing to defend our country in every way,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “We will not yield to pressure,” he vowed.
The premier is accused alongside his former defense minister Yoav Gallant of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
He described Thursday’s decision as a “dark day in the history of nations.”
“The International Criminal Court in The Hague, which was established to protect humanity, has today become the enemy of humanity,” he said, adding that the accusations were “utterly baseless.”
Israel has been fighting in Gaza since October 2023, when a cross-border attack by Hamas militants resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Its retaliatory campaign has led to the deaths of 44,056 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.
UN agencies have warned of a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including possible famine, due to a lack of food and medicines.
The court said it had found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, as well as the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
Netanyahu said the court was accusing Israel of “fictitious crimes,” while ignoring “the real war crimes, horrific war crimes being committed against us and against many others around the world.”
In addition to Netanyahu and Gallant, the court also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military wing chief Mohammed Deif, who Israel said was killed in an air strike last July.
Hamas has never confirmed his death.
Netanyahu mocked the court’s decision to issue a warrant for “the body of Mohammed Deif.”


Italy says would have to arrest Netanyahu after ICC warrant

Italy says would have to arrest Netanyahu after ICC warrant
Updated 21 November 2024
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Italy says would have to arrest Netanyahu after ICC warrant

Italy says would have to arrest Netanyahu after ICC warrant
  • Crosetto believed the ICC was “wrong” to put Netanyahu and Gallant on the same level as Hamas
  • It was not a political choice but Italy was bound as a member of the ICC to act on the court’s warrants

ROME: Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Thursday his country would be obliged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited, after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant.
The ICC earlier also issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu’s former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif.
Crosetto — whose country holds the G7 rotating presidency this year — told RAI television’s Porta a Porta program that he believed the ICC was “wrong” to put Netanyahu and Gallant on the same level as Hamas.
But he said that if Netanyahu or Gallant “were to come to Italy, we would have to arrest them.”
It was not a political choice but Italy was bound as a member of the ICC to act on the court’s warrants, Crosetto said.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had earlier been more cautious, saying: “We support the ICC, while always remembering that the court must play a legal role and not a political role.
“We will evaluate together with our allies what to do and how to interpret this decision.”