On World Children’s Day, suffering is a part of every kid’s life in Gaza – Not a Ceasefire Day 42

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On World Children’s Day, suffering is a part of every kid’s life in Gaza – Not a Ceasefire Day 42
Children in Palestine endure trauma, of every description. (IAK)

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

(While a “ceasefire” is ostensibly in place, Israel has continued its assault on Gaza without interruption. If Americans Knew considers the war to be ongoing, and in its 775th day.)

On Thursday morning, the Gaza Ministry of Health said that in the last 24 hours 33 Palestinians had been killed, including 12 children and 8 women, and over 88 were injured, numbers that apparently included Monday’s dead. The Gaza Government Media Office said in a statement that an entire family had been “wiped off the civil registry” during one of the strikes.

Since the “ceasefire” began on October 11, Israel has killed at least 312 Palestinians. Death toll figures are tentative.

Israel has so far violated the 11 October ceasefire deal in Gaza at least 393 times.

GAZA NEWS:

(For some basic info on the Palestine-Israel conflict, go here. For more critical context, skim this, this, and this. To read about a remarkable but underreported, 20-month-long peaceful protest in Gaza against Israel, go here.) 

On World Children’s Day, Palestine Mourns Thousands of Slain Children

On November 20, recognized globally as World Children’s Day, Palestine commemorates its children—those whose lives, education, and dreams have been extinguished by Israel’s ongoing war of extermination in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

In a statement issued Thursday, the Palestinian Ministry of Education reported that more than 19,000 school-aged children have been killed, and approximately 28,000 others wounded, since the beginning of the assault.

The toll includes widespread destruction of educational infrastructure: hundreds of schools, kindergartens, childhood centers, nurseries, and playgrounds have been either partially or completely destroyed across Gaza and the West Bank (continue reading here).

RELATED: At least two children killed per day in Gaza since cease-fire, UNICEF says

To be a child in Gaza is to suffer and starve – senselessly.
To be a child in Gaza is to suffer and starve – senselessly. (IAK)

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Shelter and food in desperately short supply as Gaza braces for harsh winter

A senior official of a major international NGO in Gaza said last week, “We have massive stockpiles of tents and tarpaulins and we can’t get them in. A lot is still waiting to clear all the hurdles the Israelis are still putting in our way … We could be handing out 10,000 tents a day.”

Food comes a close second in terms of priorities for those in al-Mawasi. Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire deal called for “full aid” to be sent into Gaza, but though more has been reaching the devastated territory, residents and humanitarian officials say quantities are grossly insufficient (continue reading here).

According to OCHA, the UN humanitarian aid coordinator, between 12 and 18 November, more than 10,600 metric tons (MT) of aid* were collected by the UN and its partners. None of the supplies collected over the past week were reportedly looted en route, and the last such reported incident took place on 6 November. Zikim crossing, which allows aid to enter directly to the north, resumed operations on 14 November following a two-month closure.

*NOTE: This amount of aid, if it were all food (no medicine, blankets, tents, etc.) would be approximately enough to feed one million Gazans for 11 days, based on an April report from the World Food Program, which said the group had “more than 116,000 metric tons of food assistance” – which could feed approximately half of the Strip’s residents, one million people, for some four months – waiting to enter Gaza.

Palestinians, including children, who are struggling to access food due to Israel’s blockade and ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip, wait in line to receive hot meals distributed by a charity organization at the Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on August 18, 2025.
Palestinians, including children, who are struggling to access food due to Israel’s blockade and ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip, wait in line to receive hot meals distributed by a charity organization at the Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on August 18, 2025. (Moiz Salhi – Anadolu Agency)

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Israel has advanced 300m beyond yellow line in eastern Gaza City, violating ceasefire: Media Office

Gaza’s Government Media Office said Israeli forces and tanks have advanced in eastern Gaza City, moving yellow markers about 300 meters beyond the boundary agreed to in the ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli army “surrounded dozens of families living in those areas, who were unable to leave after being caught off guard as the tanks arrived. The fate of many of these families remains unknown, as the area was targeted by heavy shelling.”

Hamas called the Israeli action a “flagrant breach” of the understandings tied to the ceasefire, and stated that it is triggering new waves of displacement, and urged President Trump to intervene: “the silence of mediators and guarantors” amid Israel’s violations “is no longer acceptable”.

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Hey Chat GPT, is it really a ceasefire if people are being killed every day?

A ceasefire is an agreement to suspend active military operations, but if people are killed every day due to ongoing hostilities or a resumption of violence, the status of the ceasefire is in question and it may be considered to be violated or a fragile arrangement, rather than a successful cessation of fighting. 

A ceasefire literally means to “cease firing” and is intended as a temporary suspension of hostilities. It does not legally end the state of war, but pauses it to allow for de-escalation, humanitarian aid, or negotiations toward a more permanent peace.

In essence, your question highlights a critical point: the practical reality of a situation where people are still dying daily contradicts the fundamental purpose and intended effect of a successful ceasefire.

OCCUPIED WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM NEWS & HEADLINES:

(Every day, Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem endure dozens of incidents like the ones below, at the hands of Israeli soldiers and/or settlers. For background on the West Bank, read this and this. For information on the significance of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, read this and this.)

Video shows Israeli troops shooting Palestinian boy, leaving him to die:

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Israel Emptying West Bank Refugee Camps is a Crime Against Humanity – HRW

The Israeli government’s forced displacement of the populations of three West Bank refugee camps in January and February 2025 amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 32,000 people reportedly removed have not been permitted to return to their homes, many of which Israel forces have deliberately demolished.

The 105-page report, “‘All My Dreams Have Been Erased’: Israel’s Forced Displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank,” details “Operation Iron Wall,” an Israeli military operation across Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams refugee camps that began on January 21, 2025, days after a temporary ceasefire was announced in Gaza.

Israeli forces issued abrupt orders to civilians to leave their homes, including with loudspeakers mounted on drones. Witnesses said soldiers moved methodically through the camps, storming homes, ransacking properties, interrogating residents, and eventually forcing all families out (continue reading here).

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On World Children’s Day, Palestinian groups accuse Israel of ‘physical and psychological destruction’ of child prisoners

Palestinian prisoner organizations have accused Israel of carrying out “physical and psychological destruction operations” against child detainees in its prisons, in a joint statement marking World Children’s Day, 

More than 1,630 children have reportedly been arrested in the occupied West Bank since the war on Gaza began. About 350 children, including two girls, are currently held in Israeli prisons, with more than 90 in administrative detention* without charge, the groups said.

The organizations said children face “torture, starvation, medical crimes, systematic looting and deprivation”, adding that Israel “treats them as a ‘security threat’, not as children in need of protection and care.”

*NOTE:  Administrative detention is intended to be used only in “exceptional” circumstances, but Israel uses it widely. (Read more here.)

A young girl runs through the rubble of damaged buildings after an Israeli military raid at Nur Shams refugee camp, in the West Bank in August 2024.
A young girl runs through the rubble of damaged buildings after an Israeli military raid at Nur Shams refugee camp, in the West Bank in August 2024. (UNICEF/Alaa Badarneh)
WEST BANK HEADLINES:

World Children’s Day: Israel has detained over 1,630 Palestinian children since Oct. 2023

NEWS & HEADLINES ABOUT ISRAEL:

(Israel is a tiny country, about the size of New Jersey, with a population smaller than the US state of Georgia – about 10 million (of which about 20 percent are Palestinians), yet it is in the news constantly. As has been demonstrated again and again, however, mainstream media rarely covers Israel accurately. IAK passes along only factual reporting.)

Israeli media: Israel investigates “optimal way” to execute Palestinian prisoners

Israeli Channel 14 reported on Wednesday evening that a delegation from Israel, headed by Itamar Ben-Gvir, will soon visit several countries to study the “optimal way” to carry out the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners accused by Tel Aviv of planning or carrying out attacks against the state. One country they will visit is the US.

Its purpose is to examine how best to impose the death penalty, to learn from counterparts how the law is applied, and to identify the proper method for carrying out the sentence. Among the methods under consideration are lethal injection, the electric chair, and other options, according to the channel.

RELATED: Israeli doctors’ union rejects role in executing Palestinian prisoners

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Israel has committed 10,000 ceasefire violations against Lebanon

In the year since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire was signed, Israel has violated Lebanese airspace 7,500 times, with 2,500 ground violations.

Israel continues to occupy at least five points on Lebanese territory following its invasion of south Lebanon last October. A ceasefire agreement reached in November stipulated that Israeli soldiers should withdraw from south Lebanon, but that never happened.

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ISRAEL HEADLINES:

NEWS & HEADLINES FROM ISRAELI MEDIA:

(Get a glimpse inside this country that is rife with turmoil and contradictions that receives $63 million a day from American taxpayers. Israeli media sometimes tells the truth about itself, but often publishes myths and lies as facts.)

Netanyahu: ‘There will not be a Palestinian state,’ even at cost of ties with Saudis

For Trump, the Gulf Is a Gold Mine – and Israel Can’t Compete

Huckabee meets with Jonathan Pollard* – Washington left in the dark

Pollard*: White House anti-Israel elements leaked my Huckabee meeting to get him fired

*NOTE: To learn more about this Israeli spy, read Jonathan Pollard says Jews ‘will always have dual loyalty’ and would counsel young Jews to consider spying for Israel

OTHER NEWS & HEADLINES:

Mahmoud Khalil Sues Trump Admin for Communications With Anti-Palestinian Groups

Abdul El-Sayed Wants to Be the First Pro-Palestine Senator From Michigan

UN Vote Reaffirms Palestinian Rights, Condemns Israeli Violations

Emirati, Israeli and far-right influencers ‘invented Christian killings in Sudan’: Report

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT) – A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:

Heavy rains flood Gaza tents with sewage

The UN Embraces Colonialism: Unpacking the Security Council’s mandate

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