About 21,000 children are missing in the Gaza Strip, many of them trapped under the rubble, presumably dead, or in unidentified mass graves, according to a report published on Monday by the Save the Children organization.

“It is almost impossible to collect and verify information in the current conditions of Gaza,” says the child aid organization, which estimates that about 17,000 children are currently alone, orphaned or separated from their parents, in the face of the constant forced displacement.

According to the Ministry of Health of Gaza, controlled by Hamas, more than 15,800 children have died since the war began in October, about thirty minors have died of hunger and 3,500 are at risk of death from malnutrition.

In total, more than 37,600 people have died in the enclave, 70% of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health.

Save the Children assures that more than 14,000 children have died in the Gaza Strip since October; about 4,000 are missing under the rubble, and a number to be determined, in mass graves.

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“Thousands of missing Palestinian children are trapped under the rubble, buried in unmarked graves, damaged to the point of not being able to be recognized by explosives, detained by Israeli forces or lost in the chaos of the conflict,” the organization says.

“Every day we find more unaccompanied children and every day it is more difficult to help them. We identify separated and unaccompanied children and try to locate their families, but there are no safe facilities for them; there is no safe place in Gaza,” they add.

Save the Children also recalls that at least 33 children died in the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, in which about 1,200 people died and 250 were kidnapped.

The organization indicated that in the occupied territory of the West Bank, about 250 Palestinian children are also missing, many of them in illegal detention.

“Families are tortured by uncertainty about the whereabouts of their loved ones. No parent should have to dig between debris or mass graves to try to find their child’s body. No child should be alone, unprotected in a war zone. No child should be arrested or taken hostage,” said Jeremy Stoner, director of Save the Children in the Middle East.

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Stoner has requested an independent investigation into the situation of the missing children in Gaza and for those responsible to be held accountable.

According to UN data, Israel has dropped 75,000 tons of explosives – the equivalent of six nuclear bombs – which, in addition to having destroyed 65% of the structures of the Strip, leaves minors in a very vulnerable situation because they are seven times more likely to die in an explosion.