New York, September 24 (QNA) – UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher expressed grave concern over the killing of thousands of children due to the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza, noting that nearly one child has been killed every hour for almost two years in the besieged enclave.

Speaking at a meeting on the situation of Palestinian children in Gaza, organized by Belgium and Jordan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Fletcher stated that they gathered again to share testimonies, express shame, and attempt to find words that reflect the horror of the situation in Gaza, and to reaffirm the urgent need for action, expressing concern that people were beginning to accept inaction as the norm.

He explained that in Gaza, a child is killed every hour on average for nearly two years, and the luckiest sleep in tents, pointing out that schools have become places of terror, where atrocities have deprived more than 700,000 children of their right to education.

Fletcher continued that they are constantly told that this is the price civilians must pay, one way or another, for war, adding that lawyers and historians will debate at length what to call what is happening, and despite the ban on international journalists, they will have a vast amount of evidence to pursue justice.

Earlier Wednesday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, has risen to 65,419 martyrs and 167,160 injured. (QNA)