85% of Gaza's population are refugees displaced from historic Palestine, and unable to move freely due to strict occupation control.

Israel has maintained the illegal militarized chokehold over Gaza for 17 years- making daily life difficult and at times next to impossible. Gaza, frequented with routine airstrikes from Israel, water shortages, power outages, and the restriction of basic necessities - for the first time in human history, the militarized fence was breached.

Amidst Israel’s siege of Gaza, Hamas’s military wing breached the blockade successfully despite many desperate and failed attempts by people in the past.

Flying in with glider jets, a fire exchange ensued between Hamas and IDF, leading to the tragic deaths of many innocent citizens.

Hamas also seized Israeli hostages - of which included citizens, and Occupation forces, in exchange for the thousands of Palestinian hostages held without charge or trial, in Israeli prisons prior to October 7th. Most of the Palestinian hostages held in Israel were just children.

Accounts of raped women and beheaded babies were debunked and confirmed as false by Western and Israeli media, including an investigation by the Israeli Newspaper Haaretz which verified the fabricated nature of the inflammatory claims.

On October 7th, the estimated number of Israeli deaths were readjusted and verified. Data was reconsidered, challenging the initial assumptions and figures.

According to the AFP, a leading global news agency, figures on Israeli deaths, emerged from social security data, with the conclusion as of now, the final death toll of Israeli citizens killed during the October 7th Hamas offensive, is 695. This is not distinguishing between the civilians killed by Hamas, or civilians killed by Israeli forces during the deadly fire exchange. This figure also omits the deaths of IDF and those active in combat - only considering Israeli civilians (Men, women and kids).

That is a tragic 695 innocent civilians killed in the crossfire between Hamas and Israeli Defense forces. In total, including IDF personal, and foreigners - the crossfire between Hamas and Israel killed an estimated 1,200 people in Israel. Each lost life was a tragic and profound loss, as are all civilian lives.

Since October 7th, Israeli officials began declaring innocent Palestinian men, women and children "human animals", and continued the 76 years of dehumanizing rhetoric against Palestinians, in order to enact Israel's latest genocide against the native people of Palestine.

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Israel has been directly targeting civilian infrastructures and "safe zones" designated by the IDF themselves. As a result, women and children have become the greatest targets of Israeli violence. From bombing, to restricting women and children's access to hygiene, medical care, basic food and water, as well as systemic sexual violence against Palestinian women and children. 

Israel's Violence Against Children

Ever since October 7th, Israel has relentlessly targeted schools, libraries, hospitals and refugee camps, causing children to face innumerable losses and unimaginable trauma, of which, we don't know what the long term effects will be. 

For reference, an approximate 510 children were killed in nearly two years of the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Over 10,000 children have been killed in Gaza in only 100 days due to Israel’s deadly bombardment, targeting of schools libraries, refugee camps, healthcare infrastructures, as well as the direct murdering of children and babies during Israeli ground operations.

In addition to direct murdering of Palestinian children, Israel has shot parents Infront of their children leaving many orphans traumatized. Faisal al Khaldi - a three year old Gazan baby recounts watching his 7-month pregnant mother shot in her stomach by an Israeli solder. He recounts that his mother and father were taken out to the corridor in front of him and shot before his little eyes.  

As of February 2, 2024 -at least 17,000 Palestinian children who have been orphan or forcibly separated from their parents according to UNICEF. 4,000 embryos were destroyed along with Gaza's oldest and largest fertility clinic by Israel's targeted and relentless bombardment.

The death toll and the targeting of Palestinian children - including unborn children makes evident Israel's assaults on Gaza is not "Israel's war against Hamas" but rather this is a Genocide of innocent civilians in Gaza.

Israel's International Reputation

According to Human Rights Watch, Israel joins the UN "blacklist" for deliberate abuses against children. Reports have found that Israeli forces are responsible for 5,698 violations including "the killing and maiming of children and attacks on school and hospitals" - Human Rights Watch, including possible grave violations of 19,887 Palestinian children.

Israel's offensive against Palestinian education and educational facilities have resulted in the robbery of Palestinian children's fundamental right to receive education. Since October 7th, Palestinian children have been forced to attended funerals, and burry their loved ones instead of attending school. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor states "... academics and intellectuals are deeply concerned by the Israeli army's pervasive targeting of academics, educational institutions, and cultural heritage sites in the Gaza Strip".

Prior to October 7th, 2023 - Israel has detained thousands of children in Israeli prisons and detention centers, from both Gaza and the West Bank, and the number of children taken hostage in Israeli facilities have only multiplied exponentially. Israel continues to arbitrarily arrest and detain Palestinian children. According to Save The Children, Israel is the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes children in military courts - a long standing human rights concern.

Hind Rajab - a 6 Year Old Little Palestinian Girl

Hind and her family were fleeing Gaza and their vehicle was shelled by Israel. Her family was killed in the car except her and a cousin who called for help noting they were under attack by an Israeli tank. The cousin was also killed, and Hind was left alone. She was stranded in the care with the corpses of her recently murdered family. Two paramedic teams attempted to rescue her and were killed by Israel. The little girl was then shot at 355 times by Israeli forces and her short life horrifically stolen.

Their bodies were found after the Israeli army withdrew. The Israeli army denied allegations of harming Hind and the rescue teams, in efforts to maintain Israel's image as an ethical and moral army. However the denial was refuted by investigations relying on satellite imagery and visual evidence which concluded that a number of Israeli tanks were indeed present and one had likely fired 355 rounds at the only surviving little girl.

Hind Rajab is a little girl, and just one in hundreds of thousands of stories of Palestinian girls and boys, men and women who have been horrifically terrorized, and barbarically murdered by the world's 4th most powerful army on the planet - Israeli Defense Forces.

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