A girl trapped under the rubble in Gaza:

“Take me out, take me out.”🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/tmiR5mCP9H

The United Nations has warned that the Israel-Hamas war is “catastrophic” for Gaza’s children.

Almost 4,000 children have been killed by Israeli airstrikes since 7 October, and a further 1,250 are missing, presumed dead or trapped under buildings.

Besides the dead, thousands of others have been displaced from their homes and have little or no access to food or clean water.

Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care doctor working with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, highlighted to CNN the terrible impact of war on children’s mental health. She said that she had heard about a little girl who tried to throw herself in front of a car.

“When asked why, [the child] said, ‘I just want to die. I can’t deal with the fear of dying anymore.’”

Countless others have been orphaned by war. CNN reported that medics are using the acronym WCNSF to classify many of the wounded children brought in to hospital. This stands for “Wounded Child No Surviving Family”.

On Sunday, Al Jazeera published horrifying footage of a girl trapped under the rubble of a building that had been hit by a missile.

“Get me out of here, please,” she cries.

“We are coming for you,” a man, who is holding the camera, calls back to her as he attempts to clear some of the rubble.

“Is that piece of wood above you?” he asks, trying to locate her.

“I don’t know. There’s a big wall crushing me. I can’t.”

Both of them try to find comfort in prayer. “Why is all this happening to us?” The girl asks.

More time passes and the girl manages to free a visibly injured arm. The camera flashes to the unmoving foot of a corpse beside her.

It is unclear whether the man was able to free her, or whether she joins the ranks of the WCNSF.

Pictured above: Children on the street in Gaza.

Image source: X