Over 38,000 Palestinian children have become orphans due to the Israeli war on Gaza since October 2023, a Health Ministry official in Gaza reported on Thursday.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Zaher al-Wahidi said the war has also left at least 13,901 women widowed.

He explained that approximately 32,151 children lost their fathers, 4,417 lost their mothers, and 1,918 lost both parents.

"These figures reflect the extent of the pain that the people of Gaza have suffered, which requires everyone to work urgently to alleviate the suffering of orphans and affected families and rebuild their lives," al-Wahidi emphasized.

Over 15,000 schoolchildren killed or missing amid Israeli war

In a related context, UNRWA said in a post on X that the ongoing war has devastated the region's education system in Gaza, where nearly every other person is a child.

In #Gaza:
🧒🏻Every other person is a child
🧒🏻Nearly 660,000 children remain out of school
🧒🏻Over 14,500 children have reportedly been killed in the war

Education is the lifeline to stability and a future for all children in Gaza. But with 88% of the schools damaged, the… pic.twitter.com/o4cAUppCIj

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) January 23, 2025

Close to 660,000 children are currently out of school, and over 14,500 children have reportedly been killed in the war, as per UNRWA.

The UN's humanitarian agency stressed that education remains a critical lifeline to stability and a hopeful future for these children, warning that with 88% of schools damaged in Gaza, the challenges are immense.

On its part, Gaza's Education Ministry released a report detailing the severe consequences of the Israeli offensive on students and educational institutions in the blockaded territory.

On Thursday, the ministry reported that over 15,000 school-aged children have been either killed or gone missing during the Israeli military operations.

It further revealed that 95% of Gaza’s schools and educational facilities have been directly targeted, with 85% rendered partially or completely inoperable.

The report also noted that more than 800 education workers have been killed or have gone missing, while 50,000 students have sustained injuries.

Additionally, more than 140 academic and administrative buildings have been destroyed.

The ministry concluded that Gaza’s education sector has faced losses exceeding $3 billion as a result of the Israeli strikes.

This reality goes hand in hand with the severe psychological trauma affecting Gaza's children.

Last week, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) sounded the alarm over the mental health crisis affecting nearly all 1.1 million children in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli ongoing war in the blockaded territory.

UNICEF revealed that Gaza’s children are grappling with nightmares, severe anxiety, and paralyzing fear caused by the relentless Israeli bombardments, the loss of family members, and the worsening humanitarian crisis. Mental health experts warn that the profound psychological effects of the war on these children could linger for generations.

This came shortly after a recent study uncovered the harrowing impact of "Israel's" war on Gaza’s children, revealing that an overwhelming 96% feel their death is imminent, and nearly half wish for it as an escape from their trauma. With symptoms ranging from nightmares to aggression, the psychological toll is unimaginable. Experts warn that the ongoing Israeli atrocities risk shaping a future defined by deep-rooted psychological scars.

Read more: UN Guterres puts 'Israel' on list of global offenders against children

Ex-State Dept. officials confirm US bombs used against Gaza children

US government officials who resigned in protest over Washington's involvement in the Israeli war on Gaza have lately confirmed the US complicity in the Israeli actions against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, describing it as genocide.

In an interview for CBS' 60 Minutes, the officials emphasized that "Israel" could not have carried out war crimes in Gaza without military support from the United States.

"What is happening in Gaza would not be able to happen without US arms. That’s without a doubt," said Hala Rharrit, a former diplomat working on human rights.

"I would show the complicity that was indisputable; fragments of US bombs next to massacres of mostly children. And that’s the devastation. It’s been overwhelmingly children."

Read next: States fueling 'Israel’s' Gaza war are complicit in war crimes: report

Rharrit stated that she was instructed not to report on the documented images emerging from Gaza that depict Israeli crimes.

She said, "I would show images of children that were starved to death. In one incident, I was basically berated," adding, "Don’t put that image in there. We don’t want to see it. We don’t want to see that the children are starving to death."

Rharrit added that after three months of the Gaza war, she was told her reports were no longer required.

A former senior US State Department staffer, Josh Paul, also stressed, "There is a linkage between every single bomb that is dropped in Gaza and the US because every single bomb that is dropped is dropped from an American-made plane."

He pointed out that the majority of "Israel's" bombs and technology, as well as all of its fighter jets and fixed-wing fleets, are supplied by the United States.

It is important to note that Paul resigned on October 18, 2023, after 11 years as a director in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, citing a policy disagreement over the US' continued aid to the Israeli occupation.