Just over one year ago, on 8 October, 2023, Malek al Kafarna, then 13, woke up at home in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, unsure if he’d go to school as the Israeli military had begun its intense aerial bombardment.
The day before, Hamas-led Palestinian armed groups attacked southern Israel, in which attack at least 800 civilians, including 36 children, were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.
EU states are contributing to the ensuing disaster as they continue to send weapons and military equipment to Israel.
Five days later, on 13 October, the Israeli military ordered everyone in northern Gaza to evacuate to the southern part of the Strip. Malek fled with his parents, seven-year-old brother, and 14-year-old sister.
They first sought refuge in Jabalia refugee camp, and then Al-Shati refugee camp, but moved further south after the attacks followed them until they eventually reached Nuseirat, in central Gaza.
“Israelis had declared that area safe,” Malek’s mother, Leila, had told me over a call. However, on 24 October, when Malek and Leila were at the camp’s central market awaiting food coupons, an Israeli strike hit the market without warning, killing at least 21 people, including nine children, and injuring at least 80 others, according to Airwars.
The strike caused Leila to lose consciousness.
“After I woke up, I was still holding my son’s arm, so I started running, thinking I’m running with my son,” she said. “I felt like my son was light, as if there was no weight on the arm. So, I looked and didn’t see my son anywhere near me, and that was when I discovered that I was holding only his arm.” She ran back and saw Malek running toward her before he fainted.
An ambulance took Malek and Leila to Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, where they waited for hours. Gaza’s healthcare system was overwhelmed, suffering from shortages of staff and medical supplies.
Malek survived, but he lost his left arm, which has affected him psychologically as well as physically. Malek and his mother were fortunate enough to evacuate to the United Arab Emirates for treatment in December, but Malek’s siblings remain behind, and the family doesn’t know whether they’ll ever see each other again.
Malek’s story is tragically common.
One year of the Israeli military’s relentless use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas of Gaza now risks, terrifyingly, being repeated in Lebanon.
The use of explosive weapons with wide effects raises the risk of unlawfully indiscriminate attacks. It also creates unique vulnerabilities for children, who are more susceptible to burns and are more likely to die from blast injuries than adults.
The ongoing use of explosive weapons heightens concerns that children will continue to pay the highest price in this conflict.
As of 10 September, more than 16,000 children had been killed in Gaza and as of 8 October, 127 children had been killed and 890 injured in Lebanon.
Like Malek, thousands more children in Gaza have acquired a disability from injuries caused by the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza. This is in addition to approximately 98,000 children in Gaza who already had a disability before October 7, 2023.
They are living through a vicious, nightmarish cycle in which more and more children are acquiring a disability and at the same time all children with disabilities are facing increased threats to their lives and safety, as Human Rights Watch documented in a recent report.
The Israeli army’s evacuation orders and lack of effective advance warning of attacks are disproportionally harming children with disabilities, who cannot easily flee.
Despite the International Court of Justice’s repeated orders requiring Israel to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and to enable unfettered humanitarian aid to reach the population, Israeli authorities continue to devastate crucial services like health care and obstruct the entry and distribution within Gaza of lifesaving aid.
These actions are especially harmful to people with disabilities, including children, who are struggling to survive without essential medication, assistive devices, and other means necessary for their survival.
The Airwars report indicates that the Israeli military used explosive weapons in their attack on the market in which Malek lost his arm.
While Israel gets most of its weapons from the United States, some European Union member states have supplied other types of military equipment to Israel.
Germany stands out as the second biggest exporter of major conventional weapons to Israel, with the government authorising military equipment worth approximately €326.5m in 2023, a 10-fold increase from 2022.
Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called on governments to suspend arms transfers to all warring parties so long as they commit widespread laws-of-war violations with impunity. EU member states that continue to provide arms to Israel risk complicity in war crimes.
As the Israeli military continues its attacks on Gaza and expands its operations in Lebanon, using explosive weapons in densely populated cities and villages puts the lives of more children at risk, irreparably changing lives like Malek’s.
The EU can, and should, play a leading role in protecting children in armed conflicts. EU member states need to stop the supply of weapons to Israel and adopt persuasive efforts to press the Israeli authorities to end their serious violations of the laws of war that are destroying children’s lives.
Emina Ćerimović is associate disability rights director at Human Rights Watch.
Emina Ćerimović is associate disability rights director at Human Rights Watch.