Children lost in the chaos, laid in unmarked graves or still buried under rubble.
Countless parents are desperately searching for their children in war-torn Gaza. Tens of thousands of children are reported missing, according to Save the Children.
At least 21,000 children are estimated to be missing in the war-ravaged strip, according to Save the Children in a press release.
According to earlier estimates from UN agencies Unicef and Ocha, most of them – around 17,000 – are believed to have been separated from their parents during the war, while around 4,000 are thought to be buried under debris and destroyed buildings.
The number of missing children buried in unmarked graves is unclear, notes Save the Children. Remains of children have been found, among other places, in hastily dug graves near Gaza hospitals Nasser and al-Shifa.
Risk of Abuse
"Parents tell us they don't know where their children are and every day we meet alone children searching for someone they know," says one of the organisation's child protection specialists in the press release.
Identifying lone children and tracing their families in the midst of a raging war is extremely difficult, according to Save the Children. The fact that many children are living with adults they don't know also increases the risk of violence and abuse, the organisation writes.
"No mother or father should have to dig through bombed-out houses or mass graves to look for their child's body. No child should have to be alone and unprotected in a war zone," says Save the Children's Secretary-General Åsa Regnér.
Mangled Bodies
According to health authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza, around 14,000 children have been killed since the outbreak of war on 7 October, following the large-scale attack by terrorist-stamped Hamas against Israel.
About half of the children have not yet been identified – in many cases due to the bodies being severely mangled.
Save the Children notes that an additional around 250 Palestinian children from the occupied West Bank are missing after being taken to Israeli military prisons.
