A Palestinian girl in a shelter in the central Gaza Strip (Al Jazeera)

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced that estimates indicate that 17,000 Palestinian children in Gaza have lost their parents or been separated from their families.

UNICEF Communications Director in the Palestinian Territories, Jonathan Krekes, said during his weekly press conference on Friday that estimates indicate that 17,000 children in the Gaza Strip have become without their parents or have been separated from their families.

As Israel continues its war on the Gaza Strip, its attacks have resulted in the death of more than 27,000 people, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

“The parents of the children in the Gaza Strip were either killed, injured, or forced to move elsewhere,” Jonathan Krekes told reporters in Geneva, via video link from Jerusalem.

He stated, "The psychological state of Palestinian children has been severely affected, and they are showing symptoms such as excessive levels of constant anxiety and loss of appetite. They cannot sleep, and have emotional or panic attacks every time they hear an explosion."

He added, "These children have nothing to do with this conflict. But they are suffering in a way that no child should be exposed to. No child, regardless of their religion, nationality, language or race, should be exposed to this level of violence that we have witnessed since October 7." First" 2023.

He continued, "There are some children whose parents cannot be identified. There are children who are too young or in a state of shock to be able to pronounce their names."

Crix said that there are two children, ages 4 and 6, who are related to each other. They lost their entire families at the beginning of last December, adding that the 4-year-old is in a state of complete shock.

In recent months, the war on the Gaza Strip has produced a new term, abbreviated “WCNSF,” meaning “a wounded child with no family alive to care for him.”

UNICEF also reported last January that a thousand children in Gaza had lost one or both of their legs since the beginning of the Israeli attacks.

The statement added that most of the surgeries for children were performed without anesthesia, and also pointed out the lack of medical teams and equipment in the Gaza Strip.

Source: Al Jazeera + German