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The ongoing conflict between Israel and Lebanon has taken a devastating toll on civilians, particularly children, according to a prominent surgeon who has witnessed firsthand the consequences of both Israeli offensives in Gaza and Lebanon. Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British-Palestinian surgeon at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, has drawn stark parallels between the injuries inflicted on children in both regions, accusing Israel of waging a 'war on children.'
Dr. Abu-Sittah, who previously worked in Gaza, told CNN that the pattern of injuries he is seeing in Lebanon mirrors what he observed during Israel's bombardment of Gaza in October and November of last year. He described children being injured in their homes and witnessing the deaths of multiple family members, highlighting the indiscriminate nature of the attacks. This tragic reality is supported by data from UNICEF, which reports that over 690 children in Lebanon have been injured in the past six weeks, with at least 100 killed in the past 11 days alone.
While Israel maintains that it takes steps to minimize civilian harm, employing methods like phone calls and text messages to warn residents of impending attacks, human rights groups like Amnesty International strongly disagree. These groups argue that such warnings do not absolve Israel of its responsibilities under international humanitarian law to limit civilian harm. The similarities in the nature of the injuries sustained by children in both Gaza and Lebanon, as described by Dr. Abu-Sittah, including blast injuries to the face, amputations, and crush injuries, further underscore the devastating impact of these attacks and raise serious concerns about the adequacy of Israel's efforts to protect civilians.
The ongoing conflict has resulted in a heavy toll on both sides. According to the Gaza health ministry, over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 96,006 injured since Israel launched its war on Hamas following the group's October 7 attack. While the ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its figures, it maintains that the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel, on the other hand, claims to have killed over 17,000 combatants in Gaza since the start of the war. While CNN cannot independently verify these numbers, the sheer scale of the casualties underscores the devastating human cost of this conflict.
The accusations leveled by Dr. Abu-Sittah and the data from UNICEF paint a grim picture of the impact of the conflict on children in Lebanon. While Israel maintains its commitment to minimizing civilian casualties, the similarities in the injuries inflicted and the high number of child casualties raise serious concerns about the effectiveness of its measures and the potential for violations of international humanitarian law. This conflict continues to have a devastating impact on civilians, and a lasting solution that addresses the underlying issues and prioritizes the safety of all individuals is urgently needed.
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