Israel-Hamas conflict is a ‘war on children’ – UN spokesperson

More than 6,000 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza since the Hamas-led attack on Israel | [...] A spokesperson for UNICEF has condemned the mass killings of children in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict, and called on “those with influence” to put an end to the conflict. ● James Elder posted an emotional video on Instagram on Friday, saying: 💬 “The ceasefire is over. We can already hear the bombing. I am at a hospital. There was a hit about 50 metres from here. This is the biggest, still functioning hospital in Gaza. It's at 200% capacity. The health system here is overwhelmed. The world “cannot see more children with the wounds of war, with the burns, with the shrapnel littering their body, with the broken bones,” adding: “This is a war on children,” the spokesman for the UN children’s fund said.

■ ‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza (+972 Mgazine) | The investigation by +972 and Local Call is based on conversations with seven current and former members of Israel’s intelligence community — including military intelligence and air force personnel who were involved in Israeli operations in the besieged Strip — in addition to Palestinian testimonies, data, and documentation from the Gaza Strip, and official statements by the IDF Spokesperson and other Israeli state institutions. ● Compared to previous Israeli assaults on Gaza, the current war — which Israel has named “Operation Iron Swords,” and which began in the wake of the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7 — has seen the army significantly expand its bombing of targets that are not distinctly military in nature. These include private residences as well as public buildings, infrastructure, and high-rise blocks, which sources say the army defines as “power targets” (“matarot otzem”). [...] Several of the sources, who spoke to +972 and Local Call on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the Israeli army has files on the vast majority of potential targets in Gaza — including homes — which stipulate the number of civilians who are likely to be killed in an attack on a particular target. This number is calculated and known in advance to the army’s intelligence units, who also know shortly before carrying out an attack roughly how many civilians are certain to be killed. In one case discussed by the sources, the Israeli military command knowingly approved the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in an attempt to assassinate a single top Hamas military commander.