Gaza War Deadliest For Children, Doctors, Journalists

More children have now been killed in the war in Gaza over the last six weeks than were killed in global armed conflicts in 2022. Reports from health officials in Gaza say at least 5,000 have killed since October 7 with more 1,000 still missing or buried in rubble.

The conflict has so far claimed 13,000 Palestinians lives and some 1,200 Israelis. Another 50 Israeli soldiers have also been killed since the IDF sent ground troops in Gaza.

And according to a report released by the Secretary General of the United Nations earlier this year, 2,985 children were killed in conflicts in 2022.

With an estimated 15, 000 bombs dropped on Gaza, the Hamas run Palestinian enclave, the war with Israel is also turning out to be the deadliest conflict ever reported for doctors, journalists and aid workers.

Israel launched a war on Gaza after Hamas led militants invaded Southern Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,200 men, women and children, and taking another 240 more as hostages.

In the six weeks since, Israeli airstrikes killed some 200 doctors according to the Hamas run health ministry and the Committee to Protect Journalists on Saturday, put the number of journalist killed at 42. Of those, 37 are Palestinians, 4 Israelis, and 1 Lebanese.

And according to Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, 161 medics were killed in 49 conflicts in all of 2021. That number is less than the 200 killed in the six weeks of the war in Gaza.

Many families are reportedly writing the names their children on their arms, in case they are orphaned or killed and need to be identified.

Some 105 aid workers, mostly with the United Nations have also been killed since October 7. The UN says the conflict in Gaza has been the worst for staff in its history.

In the case of journalists, CPJ said its database will not reflect many of these casualties until the have fully investigated the circumstances surrounding them.

In the report it released on Saturday, CPJ said it is investigating all reports of journalists and media workers killed, injured, or missing in the war, which has led to the deadliest month for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.

As of November 18, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 42 journalists and media workers were among the more than 13,000 killed since the war began on October 7—with over 11,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 deaths in Israel.

Part of the report read, “The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Reuters and Agence France Press news agencies that it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip, after they had sought assurances that their journalists would not be targeted by Israeli strikes, Reuters reported on October 27.

“Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict during the Israeli ground assault, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages and extensive power outages.”

 CPJ said it is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes.

“CPJ emphasizes that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict. Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats. Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit.”