'We Invite You to Protect Us': Gaza Children Make Plea to the World in Press Conference

A group of approximately 20 children in the besieged Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening held a press conference outside the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to implore the world to intervene to stop Israel's relentless bombing campaign that has killed more than 4,100 kids under the age of 18 over the last month.

"Since 7 October, we've faced extermination, killing, bombing over our heads – all of this in front of the world," said one child in front of the microphone, first in Arabic then in English. "They lied to the world that they kill the fighters, but they kill the people of Gaza, their dreams and their future. Kids of Gaza run out of their hopes and wants."

As he spoke, other young children—some in a hospital bed that had been rolled out and others visibly bandaged—stood shoulder to shoulder.

"We came to Al-Shifa to seek shelter from the bombing, but we suddenly faced death again when they targeted the hospital," the boy continued. "The occupation is starving us. We don't find water, food, and we drink from the unusable water. We come now to shout and invite you to protect us."

"We want to live, we want peace, we want to judge the killers of children," he added. "We want medicine, food, and education. We want to live as the other children live."

Watch:

According to The Palestine Chronicle:

The kids are either displaced refugees who had fled to the hospital as a result of Israeli bombing, or had accompanied other family members who arrived dead or wounded at Al-Shifa.

The video of the press conference was made available through the Resistance News Network on Telegram.

Despite global protests and similar demands for a cease-fire from both inside and outside of Gaza, major world leaders—including lawmakers in the United States, United Kingdom, and other European powers—have refused to demand that Israel end its bombardment and ground operations.

The World Health Organization (WHO) have said that an average of 160 children have been killed every day since the latest bombing campaign in Gaza started one month ago.

"Nothing justifies the horror being endured by the civilians in Gaza," said WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier during remarks given in Geneva on Tuesday.

Lindmeier said there have now been over 100 documented Israeli attacks against health infrastructure since the bombing began and that 14 hospitals in the besieged territory have stopped operating completely due to fuel shortages, total lack of supplies, or severe damage.

On Wednesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said the overall death toll is at least 10,569 people, including 4,324 children.