NEW YORK ( WNAM MONITORING): European and Arab delegations on Wednesday observed a minute’s silence for Palestinian children whose lives have been shattered by war and violence during a meeting attended by Arab News on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“We’ve just observed a minute of silence, but silence can’t be our response,” said Maxime Prevot, Belgium’s foreign minister and deputy prime minister.
“We need children to remain part of the political conversation, also when international attention moves elsewhere, and we need to pay much more attention to what their lives actually look like.”
The Belgian mission called the event in cooperation with Jordan and Save the Children. The plight of Palestinian children under Israeli occupation has been the highlight of several events during the high-level week at the UN.
European and Arab officials expressed dismay over Israel’s brutality against minors in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where at least 300 Palestinian children have been killed since a ceasefire agreement was reached last October.
The UN estimates that since October 2023, Israel has killed 20,000 children and injured 44,000 in Gaza. It has also prohibited the entry of toys into the Palestinian enclave.
“We spend a great deal of time discussing Gaza and the West Bank in political terms,” Prevot said. “For a child, the following questions are much more immediate: Can I go to school? Can I see a doctor? Will my family still have a home next month? Am I safe tonight?
“These are very basic questions, and far too many Palestinian children still can’t count on the answer being yes.”
Prevot said Brussels is bringing this call to action to New York to ensure that aid reaches Palestinian children, their schools function, and they have access to medical care and a safe place to live.
“Losing years of school, growing up with repeated depression, or living with the consequences of trauma can’t simply be repaired once the fighting ends,” he added.
Belgium recognized Palestinian statehood during a conference organized by Saudi Arabia and France at the UN headquarters last September, and has funded several Palestinian education and training projects. In July, Brussels approved a ban on importing goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements.
At the meeting, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi stressed that Palestinian children in Gaza have been enduring severe deprivation since late 2023, and in the West Bank they face Israeli settler violence and military raids daily.
He warned that the bitter cold and rainy months in Gaza are approaching, and that urgent action is needed to prevent children from living in despair and misery.
“The future of the children of Palestine can’t continue to be hostage to the radical, racist, expansionist policies of the Israeli government,” Safadi said.
He warned that Israel is blocking aid from entering Gaza, with supplies “expiring on the shelves and in warehouses in Amman.”
Meanwhile, in the West Bank there are “an average of more than six settler terrorist attacks against Palestinians every day.”
He added: “We’re all watching international law crumble in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Jordan has been at the forefront of efforts to provide Palestinians in Gaza with humanitarian aid and food supplies, through aid convoys or airdrops.
“Israeli ministers continue, day in, day out, to dehumanize Palestinians, calling for the displacement of Palestinians, taking pride in denying Palestinian children their right to the life that all children, anywhere in the world, should have,” Safadi said.
