Charity lists dead Gaza children in British paper ads

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

Palestinian medics treat children, whom they said were wounded by Israeli shelling, at a hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip August 1. REUTERS PHoto

Save the Children placed full-page adverts in British newspapers on Aug. 6 listing the names of 373 Palestinian children killed in Israel's offensive on Gaza, as part of the charity's campaign for a permanent ceasefire.

The black-and-white advert in broadsheet newspapers carries the names of the children that the Palestinian Ministry of Health and United Nations (OCHA) have reported to have died between July 8 and August 3.

Readers are invited to send text messages as part of the campaign to force a permanent ceasefire "for the children of Gaza and Israel."

A fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip entered a second day on Aug. 6 as Israeli and Palestinian delegations prepared for crunch talks in Cairo to try to extend the 72-hour truce.

The ceasefire has brought relief to both sides after 1,875 Palestinians and 67 people on the Israeli side were killed in one month of fighting. In a separate statement, Save the Children said the public health system in Gaza was close to collapse and that half a million people were displaced from their homes.

Save the Children's David Hassell said: "For the sake of children and their families, we are hoping that this ceasefire holds. "It is desperately needed, as essential services in Gaza have all but collapsed and we are struggling to reach the most vulnerable children caught in this conflict."