"Every War is a War Against Children"

This month marked the most startling escalation in violence between Israel and Hamas since 2014. During Ramadan, Israeli police forces clashed with Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa compound. In retaliation, on May 10, Hamas launched rockets into Israel that were largely deflected by Israel’s Iron Dome. In response, Israel fired on densely-populated Gaza. There have been a number of disconcerting images, including a video of Palestinian children standing in rubble with their pet fish in a bowl. This issue has been painted as complicated and for politicians that might feel true. For Palestinian and Israeli children living through the conflict, however, it is simply terrifying. What can we do?

Today's conflict.
As Trevor Noah noted on The Daily Show last week, there is a lot of history to unpack in this region and that cannot be adequately addressed during a one hour show or in a Girl Friday newsletter. To protect Israeli citizens from external threats, Israel designed the Iron Dome. The sophisticated system, which is partially funded by the U.S., intercepts incoming rockets. This month, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that more than 3,000 rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza. The Iron Dome intercepted 90% of them, but 12 people were killed, including two children. When Israel fired on Gaza, residents were not protected by an Iron Dome and at least 230 Palestinians have perished. Of that number, 63 were children.

Damaged schools.
UNRWA, the United Nations agency dedicated to helping Palestinian refugees in the Near East region, operates 711 schools. Some of the children killed in Gaza were UNRWA students. The agency honored them in this Twitter thread. The youngest UNRWA students listed thus far, Marwan and Amir, were only 7 years old. According to Save the Children, Israel's air raids damaged fifty schools in Gaza, impacting almost 42,000 Palestinian children's access to shelter and education. UNICEF said that rockets fired from Gaza reportedly damaged three schools in Israel.

Politics of childhood.
As the founder of Save the Children said, "Every war is a war against children." Children's safety should never be political nor should the traumas they experience be avoided in discussions. Here are a few of their stories to remember and share. Yara, age 9, and Rula, age 5, were killed in Gaza, buried under their collapsed home. The sisters had been receiving treatment from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) for the difficulties they had already endured. Their teacher told the BBC they always completed their homework on time. Ido Avigal, age 5, was killed in Israel when shrapnel from a rocket pierced the fortified room he was hiding in with his mother and sister. At his funeral, his father said, "A few days ago, you asked me: 'Dad, what will happen if the siren goes off while we are outdoors?' I told you that so long as you were with me you would be protected. I lied."

Donate to UNRWA. The UN agency's latest statement says, "Displaced by airstrikes, there are currently 65,000 displaced people in emergency UNRWA shelters, such as UNRWA Beach Elementary School, one of 59 shelters of its kind in Gaza. Fuel is set to run out on Friday and an estimated 800,000 people are currently without clean water." Over the next thirty days, UNRWA is trying to raise $38 million. You can donate and/or create a fundraiser on their website.