Special report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts

A Palestinian man reacts in front of the bodies of three children killed by an Israeli tank shell, one of them his son, at Shifa hospital in Gaza Jan. 5, 2009.  (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The number of child casualties in the Gaza Strip has reportedly tripled since the beginning of the Israeli ground operations on Jan. 3, a senior UN official said here on Wednesday.

    John Holmes, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told an open meeting of the Security Council that "the situation for the civilian population of Gaza is terrifying," and stressed the "psychological impact felt particularly by children and their parents who feel helpless and unable to protect them."

    The Security Council held the open session to focus on how to protect civilians globally in armed conflicts.

    "The population of Gaza was already suffering after more than 18 months of closure," Holmes said, referring to the Israeli closure of border crossing points into Gaza.

    Since the current hostilities started, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reports, as of Tuesday, showed that "the number of Palestinian casualties stands at 971 killed, of whom 311 are children and 76 women, and 4,418 wounded, of whom 1,549 are children and 652 are women," said Holmes.

    "Many of the male casualties are no doubt also civilians," he added.

    Israel launched military offensive against Gaza in order to stamp out the firing of rockets into southern Israel by Hamas militants.

    "These attacks (by Hamas) are contrary to international humanitarian law and must cease," said the UN official. "Yet any Israeli response must itself comply with international humanitarian law. Here, too, there is considerable and grave cause of concern."

The body of a Palestinian child lay on a stretcher at Shifa hospital in the east of Gaza City after an Israeli strike on Jan. 5, 2009. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    "Israeli operations are also causing extensive damage to homes and public infrastructure, and seriously jeopardizing water, sanitation and medical services," he said. "United Nations schools sheltering displaced persons have been hit; humanitarian workers have been killed and ambulances hit; sick and wounded left trapped and unassisted; up to 100,000 people displaced from their homes."

    Also on Wednesday, the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Ann M. Veneman, issued a statement in Johannesburg, calling on the parties to the ongoing conflict in Gaza to ensure the protection of children.

    "These are not just cold figures," Veneman said of the child casualties report from Gaza. She is in Johannesburg to launch the 2009 State of the World's Children report on Thursday.

    "Each day more children are being hurt, their small bodies wounded, their young lives shattered," she said, adding that the current situation is "tragic" and "unacceptable."