WAR ON THE INNOCENTS

Child deaths on both sides soar | Humanitarian crisis worsens

- ANDY LINES

DEVASTATED father Wael al-Dahdouh cradles the body of his daughter Sham, yet another innocent young victim of a war that has nothing to do with them.

As he grieved for the seven-year-old he declared: “They are punishing us through our children.”

Another distraught dad weeps uncontrollably at the graves of his three children and echoes Wael’s despair. He said: “They are bombing angels. They are killing our children.”

These harrowing scenes are now common in Gaza, where Palestinian figures claim the death toll of youngsters has hit more than 3,000.

And as Save the Children and Unicef beg for a ceasefire to save lives on both sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict, hundreds of others are still missing, feared buried under the rubble left by Israeli airstrikes.

One humanitarian worker also told how many kids who survive blasts are being left with crippling injuries and hospitals are struggling to cope with the growing humanitarian crisis.

Dozens of Israeli children were murdered by Hamas on October 7 and many others are being held hostage.

The tragic toll on kids from both sides is illustrated by the deaths of two four-year-olds. Israeli Omer Siman-Tov was killed at a kibbutz while Palestinian Omar Bilal al-Banna died in an airstrike near Gaza City.

Gordon Brown joined the call for both sides to stop targeting kids.