![A Palestinian girl stands amid the rubble of her destroyed home on 24 May 2021 in Beit Hanoun, Gaza. [Getty]](/sites/default/files/2021-06/GettyImages-1233090336.jpg)
420 children have been killed or injured daily in Israel's Gaza onslaught
Israeli bombardment in Gaza has killed 3,648 Palestinian children since 7 October, with at least a thousand more missing.
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The death toll has so far surpassed 8,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children [Getty]
Israel's relentless onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip has killed 3,648 Palestinian children since 7 October, the Defense for Children International - Palestine said on Wednesday, with 420 children killed or injured daily.
The figure does not include "more than a thousand who are missing under the remnants of destroyed buildings" the group said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
Gaza has been described by a UN children's agency as "a graveyard" for thousands of children with warning that more children will die as a result of dehydration as Israel banned the entry of food supplies into the besieged enclave.
"Our gravest fears about the reported numbers of children killed becoming dozens, then hundreds, and ultimately thousands were realised in just a fortnight," James Elder, a spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The numbers are appalling [...], staggeringly this rises significantly every day," he said, adding: "Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. It’s a living hell for everyone else."
The death toll has so far surpassed 8,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, while more than 22,000 people were wounded - many in critical conditions.
Hospitals, overwhelmed by the number of casualties and running out of fuel as a result of Israel's "total siege", are in a state of collapse.
At least 16 of the territory's 35 hospitals have been forced to shut down, as have 51 of its 72 primary healthcare clinics.
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