by Xinhua writer Li Jun
RAMALLAH, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict grinds into the 11th month, children suffer the most. A recent polio outbreak has triggered an emergency vaccination campaign for 640,000 children under the age of 10, and is worsening an already dire crisis for Gaza's most vulnerable.
While vaccines may provide temporary protection against diseases, the only solution that can truly guarantee these children a future of health, safety, and dignity is peace.
Gaza's children are among the most innocent casualties of this brutal conflict. Shortages of food, clean water, and basic healthcare are gravely threatening their survival.
The United Nations sounded the alarm in July, warning that famine has taken hold across Gaza. For countless families, the prospect of starvation is no longer a distant threat but a terrifying reality.
But hunger is only one of many perils. Gaza's sanitation infrastructure lies in ruins, with 70 percent of its sewage pumps destroyed. Wastewater treatment facilities are inoperable, and the collapse of the clean water system has pushed Gaza's fragile public health system to the brink.
The resurgence of polio after 25 years, a disease eradicated in most of the world, is a damning indictment of the catastrophic conditions Gaza's children are forced to endure.
Displacement is another grim reality for Gaza's youth. Since the conflict began, 1.9 million people have been displaced, nearly half of them children, according to the United Nations.
As Muhannad Hadi, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, recently observed, evacuation orders meant to protect civilians often achieve the opposite, driving families into overcrowded, unsafe areas with few services and constant danger. For Gaza's children, displacement is not a temporary ordeal; it is a constant state of being.
While hunger, malnutrition, and diseases are devastating enough, the specter of violence looms even larger. Airstrikes, explosions, and gunfire have become the horrifying soundtrack of daily life for Gaza's children. After 11 months of relentless warfare, much of Gaza lies in ruins, leaving its children to navigate a shattered world with no sense of security.
The casualty statistics are staggering. According to Palestinian officials, more than 40,000 Palestinians have died in this conflict, with over 16,000 of them being children. At least 17,000 children have lost one or both parents. Some 3,500 children face imminent death from malnutrition. Among the more than 94,000 wounded in Gaza, a significant number are children.
These cold numbers disclose the human tragedy behind them -- the loss of young lives that were filled with potential. The silent plea of Gaza's children echoes with painful clarity: "In Gaza, we never grow up."
Gaza's children, like all children, deserve to grow up in safety, with access to food, education, and hope. What they need is not just vaccines; they need peace and normal life first. Vaccinations may offer temporary relief, but they cannot protect these children from bullets and bombs. For them, peace is the ultimate "vaccine," the only shield that can safeguard their future.
Vaccines treat the symptoms; peace is the cure. The conflict must end. Peace must prevail -- not just for Gaza's children, but for the shared aspirations of peace-loving people everywhere. ■