AL-QUDS: Violence against children has surged in recent months in the occupied West Bank, where Israel is conducting a sweeping military operation, UNICEF warned as it called for an end to hostilities.
The Regional Director of the UNICEF, Edouard Beigbeder has revealed that 13 Palestinian children were killed in the West Bank since the start of the year alone, including seven killed following the launch of a large-scale operation by Israel in the north of the territory on 19 January.
The casualties include a two-and-a-half-year-old child, whose pregnant mother was also injured in the shooting, according to the United Nations children’s agency.
“UNICEF condemns all acts of violence against children and calls for the immediate cessation of armed activity across the occupied West Bank,” Beigbeder said in a statement.
“All civilians, including every child without exception, must be protected.”
He added that the rising use “of explosive weapons, airstrikes and demolitions in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas Governorates – including in refugee camps and other densely populated areas – has left essential infrastructure severely damaged, disrupting water and electricity supplies.”
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