By: Muhammad Ismail Khalid Yousaf
Humanity continues to fail to address one of the biggest plights of the 21st century. During the current Israel-Palestine conflict more than 35,000 people have lost their lives on both sides, with over 14,000 of them being children. Rough estimates indicate that over 77,000 people have been wounded, including those who have lost limbs, and more than 12,000 of the injured are children. At current there are more than 17,000 unaccompanied or separated children.
Dreams and futures of the youth there have been crushed, tormented, and suffocated.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the number of children killed in this conflict exceeds the combined total of children killed in conflicts globally over the past 4 years. As staggering as these numbers sound, we have yet to grasp the full extent of the ongoing cataclysm. Geneva Convention has been blatantly violated, and hospitals have been intentionally demolished.
Article 18 of the Geneva Convention states:
“Civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick, the infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict.”
While speaking in Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk used the word “carnage” to describe the human atrocities in the region. Rafah, the cornerstone of Gaza, has grown from 250,000 to around 1.3 million people in an area of 24.71 square miles because of the natural course of the war. 25 of Rafah’s 36 hospitals have been banjaxed.
This leads to another huge medical concern: the spread of contagious diseases within this densely populated and corned area. Without adequate medical supplies, which have been in short supply since October 2023, we may see exponential rates of casualties. Sewage, sanitation, and food supply chains after heavy bombing have been, as predicted, severely impacted. Currently, 35,000 lactating and pregnant mothers are seeking medical supplies as quoted by UNICEF USA.
Looking ahead, medical professionals are worried about the mental health of all the people, especially children, who might have half survived physically but are completely bruised mentally. Their rehabilitation and therapy might take a lifetime if they survive this lifetime.
Global leaders and humanitarian NGOs have repeatedly called for a ceasefire, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Sadly, these continued efforts even in United Nations Meetings have
been unsuccessful. What is clear is that children are the primary victims. Which makes it not just a regional issue but a humanitarian crisis in its worst and unprecedented form. No child should endure such turmoil, separation, and mental anguish.
While we continue to falter, the children of war are now angels of God since they have nowhere else to seek refuge.
The writer is a distinguished Headache Medicine Fellow and advocate at Dell Medical School, UT Austin. Specializing in tension-type headaches, he brings expertise and dedication to advancing awareness and patient care in the field of headache medicine. He can be reached at muhammad.yousaf@austin.utexas.edu