The humanitarian toll of Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip continues to mount, with global agencies and grieving families calling for accountability and urgent intervention.

Speaking from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder painted a harrowing picture of life for children trapped in Gaza, describing both the physical devastation and deep psychological trauma they endure daily.

Elder shared the story of Jina, an 11-year-old girl now paralyzed from the waist down following an Israeli airstrike. “She is in a state of deep despair,” Elder said. “She just wants to get out of here, but she cannot get medical evacuation.”

He warned that an estimated 50,000 children in Gaza have been killed or injured since the beginning of the Israeli military campaign, equating that number to the loss of 2,000 classrooms full of children. “This tragedy must end,” he urged, calling for immediate international action to stop the bloodshed and allow humanitarian access.

In France, the war has taken a deeply personal toll. Jacqueline Rivault, a French citizen, has filed a legal complaint in Paris accusing Israel of genocide and the murder of civilians, including her two young grandchildren—Janna (6) and Abderrahim (9)—who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on October 24, 2023.

According to the complaint, two missiles fired from Israeli F-16 warplanes struck the room where the children were sheltering. Abderrahim was killed instantly, while Janna succumbed to her injuries shortly after. The family had believed the building was a safe location.

Rivault's case is one of several recent legal actions filed across Europe under universal jurisdiction laws, aimed at investigating and prosecuting alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.

Gaza’s health system has all but collapsed under the pressure of unrelenting airstrikes, displacement, and siege. Hospitals, including Al-Aqsa Martyrs, are operating far beyond capacity, with severe shortages of medical supplies, electricity, fuel, and surgical equipment.

The Israeli blockade, now entering its 18th year, has escalated since October 2023, with over 90 days of total closure—blocking food, water, and humanitarian aid. According to aid agencies, more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands more wounded. Famine conditions are emerging in northern and central Gaza, where access to clean water and basic nutrition is limited or non-existent.

The UN and major humanitarian organizations have repeatedly condemned the targeting of civilian infrastructure and the obstruction of aid. Yet, calls for ceasefire and accountability have gone largely unheeded.

James Elder and other frontline workers are calling not just for aid, but for political action. “The trauma etched into these children’s faces, the limbs lost, the families buried—it cannot be dismissed as collateral damage. It is the consequence of policies and military actions that must be addressed under international law,” Elder said.

As grief turns into action in places like France and as aid workers speak out from the ruins of Gaza’s hospitals, the world is being urged to listen—and to act—before more lives are lost. (ILKHA)