Suffering of Palestinian Children Rated Among Highest in the World

by Mays Al-Azza

IMEMC The Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported, on Wednesday, that Dr. Hanna Issa, an expert in international law, confirmed that among all the children of the world, Palestinian children are suffering the most. Their plight began in 1948, and has been ongoing to this day due to Israeli practices against them. Thousands of children were displaced and became homeless without committing any sin or fault, Issa said. He added that Israeli occupation has also harmed all Palestinians over the course of several decades and up to the present time; and has violated their rights and has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of women, men, and children. Dr. Issa pointed out that Palestinian children were the victims of the Israeli army during the al-Aqsa Intifada, when more than 1,000 children under the age of 18 were killed and more than ten thousand were wounded and thousands more were left to suffer psychological trauma as a result of the impact of horrific scenes witnessed every day. More than 3,000 children have been kidnapped by the Israeli army; many of them are still detained in Israeli prisons and detention centers where they face abuse and bad living conditions that deprive them of basic human rights. Israeli violations against Palestinian children affect the rights of children to receive an education and the right to receive proper mental and physical health services. These continuous violations indicate that no country that is a signatory of the human rights convention and treaties, has taken any action to prevent the abuser country from violating these basic human rights. Dr. Issa demanded that the international community exert pressure on the Israeli government to abide by the international law to protect the internationally guaranteed rights of Palestinian children.