‘War has rules’: UN event urges action to protect Palestinian children

New York City, United States – After astir being killed successful June during an Israeli onslaught connected Gaza, 10-year-old Rasha felt compelled to constitute her will.

“If I go a martyr oregon walk away, delight bash not outcry for maine due to the fact that your tears origin maine pain,” she wrote. “I anticipation my apparel volition beryllium fixed to those successful need.”

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Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian American doc who has been volunteering successful Gaza for the past 2 years, told Rasha’s communicative to diplomats connected Wednesday connected the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Ahmad said Rasha besides asked successful her volition that the remainder of her possessions beryllium divided among her siblings and her parents not outcry excessively overmuch astatine her 11-year-old brother.

Rasha was killed successful different Israeli onslaught 3 months later.

Her communicative was 1 of galore told to the diplomats who gathered to renew their enactment for a pledge called Call to Action for Palestinian Children successful the West Bank and Gaza, which has been adopted by much than 70 countries.

Since the telephone to action, which urges an extremity to violations against children, was archetypal made successful June past year, Israel has killed thousands of Palestinian children, and galore much thousands person been displaced, wounded and deprived of food.

“This suffering is not inevitable. It is simply a effect of choices, of actions and of inaction – and choices tin change,” Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said.

Diplomats and delegates stitchery astatine the UN to telephone for the extortion of Palestinian children connected September 24, 2025 [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera]

He besides implicitly deed retired astatine Israel’s mendacious assertion that the UN and assistance groups are not delivering the humanitarian assistance piling up connected the edges of Gaza arsenic deadly hunger ravages the territory.

“I disagree with those who accidental that the humanitarian strategy is broken,” Prevot said.

“It is entree that is missing. It is the deliberate determination to contradict access. War has rules, and those rules statesman with humanity. To disregard them is not lone to interruption the law. It is to betray who we are.”

‘Israel is committing genocide’

According to wellness officials, Israel has killed much than 20,000 children successful Gaza since the commencement of the warfare successful October 2023.

And arsenic the Israeli blockade deepens a famine declared by a UN-backed hunger show successful parts of the territory, children stay the astir susceptible conception of the population.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that Israel volition not halt its atrocities unless the satellite unites to halt the impunity.

“Let’s not mince our words: Israel is committing genocide successful Gaza. It is starving 2.3 cardinal Palestinians,” helium said. “In the wasteland that it has made Gaza, the lives of Palestinian children are tales of horror.”

For his part, UN humanitarian main Tom Fletcher called for factual enactment to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian children, saying they person been deprived of each rights protected nether the laws of war.

“In Gaza, the famine has been caused by cruelty, justified by revenge, enabled by indifference, sustained by complicity,” helium said.

“In Gaza, a kid has been killed connected mean each hr for astir 2 years. … In Gaza, shelters are bombed and schools person go sites of horror, depriving implicit 700,000 children of their close to education.”

He stressed the request for a ceasefire and allowing humanitarian entree to assistance groups due to the fact that Palestinian children “cannot eat statements and concern”.

Although named a Call to Action for Palestinian Children, the 2024 pledge to enactment Palestinian children does not see immoderate enactment against Israel. Instead, it is simply a database of commitments to humanitarian assistance and a rejection of abuses.

It has been endorsed by countries worldwide, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan.

‘We request a ceasefire’

At the UN event, Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, outlined a database of demands by the assistance radical to assistance support children:

• Suspending arms transfers that hazard atrocity crimes
• Reviewing and amending commercialized agreements to guarantee compliance with planetary law
• Adopting financial, governmental and diplomatic accountability measures to extremity impunity

“These are not extremist measures,” Maxman said. “They are the bare minimum needed to prevention Palestinian children. They are besides ineligible obligations, arsenic affirmed by resolutions, advisory opinions and planetary humanitarian law.

While dozens of countries crossed the satellite person decried Israel’s atrocities and the forced starvation it is inflicting connected Gaza, fewer person imposed sanctions connected the United States’s state oregon fundamentally altered their narration with it.

On Wednesday, Palestine’s UN envoy Riyad Mansour recounted stories of interactions with children from Gaza, including a 12-year-old who was visiting the UN office arsenic portion of an inaugural by the UN bureau for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Mansour recalled asking the kid what helium would similar to beryllium erstwhile helium grew up. “He said: ‘I privation to beryllium a diplomat. I privation to regenerate you arsenic ambassador of the authorities of Palestine.'”

The Palestinian diplomat said helium does not cognize if the children helium encountered are inactive alive.

“These are the beauteous stories of our children,” Mansour added arsenic helium banged mildly connected the table.

“We request to support the ones who are alive. The ones we lost, Allah yerhamhon [God bless their souls]. We cannot bring them back. But we request to redouble our efforts to prevention the lives of the children who are alive. That’s wherefore we need a ceasefire. We request it now.”