In Photos | How children have the most to lose in the Israel-Hamas War

It’s Day 6 and the stench of death and destruction permeates in the Israel-Palestine region as fighting continues; Israel is pounding the Gaza Strip with one of its fiercest airstrikes, with the Palestinian militant group also unleashing rocket after rocket. In the days since Hamas’ surprise assault, images are pouring in from both regions of helpless children running through the streets and cowering in bomb shelters after airstrikes. In Gaza, images are emerging of parents holding on to the bodies of their dead children while UNICEF and other organisations decry the indiscriminate airstrikes in the area. At the kibbutz of Be’eri and Kfar Az, the Israel Defense Forces have alleged Hamas of butchering children and beheading them. Israeli children have also been among those reported kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. [caption id=“attachment_13239642” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Children howl as they mourn the loss of their loved ones in the Israeli airstrike launched in the Gaza Strip. While the number of children dead in Israel is uncertain, Palestinian authorities have said that of the 900 people killed in Gaza until Wednesday, 260 were children. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_13239702” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A boy mourns the death of Palestinians from the Samour family, who were killed in Israeli strikes on their house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Jason Lee, Save the Children’s country director for the occupied Palestinian territory, told Al Jazeera that the airstrikes will leave children traumatised. “We know from previous experience that children will be terrified." They will experience trauma from witnessing deaths of their loved ones in such a violent manner. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_13239732” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] And it’s not just the trauma of losing loved ones. Children will also have to cope with the loss of losing their houses, their belongings as the airstrikes from both sides aren’t sparing civilian locations. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_13239762” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Palestinian children who fled their homes amid Israeli strikes, shelter in a United Nations-run school, in Gaza City. The airstrikes in the Gaza Strip has also led to the displacement of over 3 lakh people, including children. Their education will be disrupted; their innocence stolen by the violence. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_13239772” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] In Israel too, children are suffering. The rocket strikes by Hamas has terrified children. On Tuesday, the militant group launched a rain of rockets in Ashkelon, scaring children. Earlier, Hamas militants took aim at children in Israeli kibbutz, beheading them. AP[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_13239832” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] An Israeli firefighter hands a drink to a young child next to a site struck by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel. Israeli PM Netanyahu called the Hamas militants worse than ISIS. AP[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_13239872” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Palestinian children fill a bottle with water from a public tap amid the conflict with Israel in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Israel’s total blockage of the Gaza Strip is also leaving the residents without food, water and power, plunging them into a “catastrophic situation.” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said: “I remind all parties that in this war, as in all wars, it is children who suffer first and suffer most.” Reuters[/caption]