Israel has systematically targeted children in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli newspaper says, noting that the regime is covering up its crimes with sham investigations after more than 20,000 Palestinian kids have been killed in the besieged strip.
In an analytical report, Haaretz said the number of children, under the age of 18, killed in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 20,000, an average of approximately 28 children per day.
Referring to the Israeli army’s statement on the findings of its investigations into several prominent crimes, including the killing of the five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and the targeting of a paramedic in Rafah, the newspaper said the army would likely only impose lenient punishments on those involved in those crimes.
Hind was killed after the vehicle carrying her family came under intense fire as they attempted to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli military advance in northern Gaza during the Israeli regime’s genocidal war that had begun in October 2023.
She later became the focus of international attention after making a desperate, hours-long emergency call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on January 29, 2024.
Her body was recovered days later inside the bullet-riddled vehicle alongside six relatives. Two Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics who had been dispatched to rescue her were also killed.
Haaretz stressed that the army’s statement is primarily aimed at polishing its image and clearing its name after its reputation has been tarnished by its police of indiscriminate fire, which it has followed since the beginning of the genocidal war.
According to the report, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in circumstances similar to the case of Hind Rajab, amid a comprehensive policy of disregard for civilian life.
However, the army has not opened any criminal investigations into those cases, as they received no international media coverage.
The newspaper emphasized that, so far, the Israeli army has not prosecuted any of its officers or soldiers for unjustified attacks on civilians, despite the fact that the records of more than 2,000 Palestinian families have been completely erased from the civil registry as a result of the ongoing genocide.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, Israel’s genocidal war has resulted in the deaths of over 73,417 Palestinians and left more than 174,360 injured.
