Last night Thursday, tens of children in Gaza held a candlelight vigil for their peers who were killed in the latest Israeli attack on the Strip, in which participants held photos of the martyrs in the gathering organized by the governmental ministry of Youth and Culture as well as the Kayan Cultural Center west of the Strip. 

Of the signs held up by the children, one said: “The children of Gaza are calling upon the free people of the world to save them from the Israeli occupation’s missiles.” The children also shouted cries, denouncing “Israel’s” latest military attack. 

Read more: Gaza: 'Israel' butchers childhood, bereaved parents mourn in solitude 

"We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian children that are victims of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip," said Taghrid Shaafout, the head of the Kayan Cultural Center, on the sidelines of the vigil.

"The children of Gaza are still living a state of panic, horror, and sadness […] till when shall they remain targets of the occupation? Our people will stand their ground, and the Palestinian case is an inseparable part of us," Shaafout added.

91% of Gazan children suffered from some form of trauma to say the least, according to a report from the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based independent, nonprofit organization that the Israeli occupation government outlawed in 2016.

Lian Al-Shaer: child martyr and symbol of innocence 

Of the many children killed, 10-year-old Lian Al-Shaer, of the Khan Yunis governorate, died last night after succumbing to her injuries from the recent attack by the Israeli occupational forces – she was one of 360 civilians injured, and of the 19 children murdered, never getting the chance to enjoy their childhood.

Bachelet’s office reported that 19 Palestinian children had been killed in Gaza during the recent aggression, bringing the total number of Palestinian children killed this year to 37.

The Israeli occupation began on August 5 its aggression on the Gaza Strip, and Al-Quds Brigades announced that Taiseer Al-Jaabari, a military commander in the northern Gaza Strip, had been martyred. 

Consequently, Al-Quds Brigades launched an operation in response to the Israeli occupation's aggression on the Gaza Strip by launching salvoes of rockets toward the occupied Palestinian territories.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the Israeli occupation's aggression martyred 48 Palestinians, including 19 children, and wounded 360 others.