With 14,000 shoes: Dutch activists show the devastating cost of Gaza's war on Palestinian children

Thousands of children's shoes were arranged on Utrecht's Vredenburg Square on Sunday to draw attention to the thousands of Palestinian children killed in Israel's war on Gaza Strip over the past four months. 

A new pair of shoes was added every 10 minutes while the children's names were read out over loudspeaker, showing the frequency with which children are being killed in Gaza.

At the end of the event, the whole square was filled with children's shoes.

Netherlands-based foundation 'Plant an Olive Tree' (Plant een Oliifboom) organised the event, saying that Palestinian children in Gaza are not only being killed by bombs and shells, but dying from starvation and dehydration due to the blockade on Gaza and a security breakdown.

"On average, another Palestinian child dies every 10 minutes" the foundation stated.

The UN said last week that over 12,300 children had died between October and February in the Gaza Strip.

UNICEF reported on Friday that the number of children under two years old suffering from acute malnutrition in the northern Gaza Strip had doubled within one month.

According to the UN body, 23 children have died in Gaza due to malnutrition and dehydration in recent weeks.