“Every day without a cease-fire, it gets harder to help children piece together the shattered shards of their lives,” said a Save the Children official. “For thousands of children, it’s already too late.”

The global humanitarian group Save the Children said Thursday that roughly 30% of the kids killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since last October were under the age of 5—likely a significant undercount given that thousands of the child victims of Israel’s U.S.-backed assault have yet to be identified.

Citing a recent list published by Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Save the Children noted that of the 11,300 identified children killed by the Israeli military between October 7 and August 31, at least 3,100 were younger than 5. Roughly 710 children included on the ministry’s list were younger than a year old, and 2,800 have not been identified.

“The occupied Palestinian territory is now ranked as the deadliest place in the world for children, who face constant exposure to violence in Gaza, a lack of access to adequate healthcare, and the highest rates of child malnutrition globally, with 83% of required food aid not making it into Gaza according to aid organizations,” the group said in a statement, demanding an immediate cease-fire to prevent further harm to Gaza’s young.

“Save the Children recently screened nearly 3,000 children under 5, finding that nearly 20% of them were suffering with moderate acute malnutrition and nearly 4% with severe acute malnutrition,” the group said. “Staff have reported seeing children scouring through rubbish and debris to find food.”

A 37-year-old mother of seven told Save the Children that her youngest son “is one year and a half and is malnourished.”

“There is no food or anything. Ali cannot walk or hold onto a chair, he cannot even crawl,” she said. “He does not eat eggs or meat or milk. Nothing is available.”

Save the Children’s analysis came amid Israel’s escalating assault on central and northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped and struggling to survive Israeli bombardments and famine conditions. Northern Gaza has been wholly cut off from humanitarian assistance for more than a week, and overall aid deliveries to the enclave have tanked in recent weeks.

As Reutersreported, the United Nations World Food Program said Wednesday that “aid entering the Gaza Strip has plummeted to its lowest level in months, forcing the agency to stop the distribution of food parcels this month.”

Gaza’s children have borne the brunt of Israel’s yearlong war, which has inflicted devastating psychological and physical harm. Many of the children who have survived Israel’s relentless attacks have been left with debilitating injuries and without parents. A report released Wednesday estimated that more than 50,000 Gaza children have been orphaned or separated from their parents by Israel’s assault.

“The damage caused has shattered the very foundations of life in Gaza and will threaten the future of Palestinian children for generations to come,” Jeremy Stoner, Save the Children’s regional director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, said in a statement Thursday.

“It is heartbreaking to see such young children robbed of any hope. Life-changing injuries, starvation, a health and education crisis—the cumulative impact of such across-the-board harm is not only putting children’s lives at risk every day, but also their futures,” said Stoner. “There must be an immediate definitive cease-fire. For every day without a cease-fire, it gets harder to help children piece together the shattered shards of their lives. For thousands of children, it’s already too late.”

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  children, deaths, gaza, israel, violence