The International Women’s Alliance in Asia Pacific, Gabriela and the Commission for Women of the International League of Peoples’ Struggles strongly condemn the ongoing US and Israel killing of Palestinian children. Children are among the more than 28,300 Palestinians killed by the US and Israel in its genocidal war in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

The said groups condemned the killing of as many as 12,000 children, including 6-year-old Hind Rajab who was found dead in a car on February 12, two weeks after she last called her parents. Hind was with her uncle, aunt and three young cousins in the car. They were traveling on January 29 out of Gaza City when Israeli forces fired upon their car. The Israelis also killed two paramedics sent by the Red Crescent Society who attempted to save the family.

According to Euro-Med Monitor, which investigated the incident two weeks after the incident, the car carrying the victims and the ambulance of the paramedics were ridden with bullets and was clearly shelled. The ambulance was severely burnt, and its engine was detached. Investigators also found parts of the US-made bomb used to explode it.

The killing took place in broad daylight, and the Israelis could have clearly seen children inside the car, according to Euro-Med. It is, thus, clear that the sustained and brutal killings by Israeli forces deliberately aim at children, as well as paramedics, all of whom have a special status as protected individuals amid armed conflict, based on international humanitarian law.

In the face of this, women against imperialism demand that US-Israel be held accountable for its crimes.

“(W)e demand…that the US-Israel be held accountable for every child tortured and killed, every life destroyed, every home and hospital burned by them,” according to their statement today, February 15. “The imperialist aggression by the US and Israel, and their allies, has resulted in severe suffering for generations of Palestinians now— from the Zionist seizure of their lands and resources [75 years ago], to genocidal attacks which the occupying forces are launching against millions of citizens in Gaza, the West Bank and even in neighboring Arab countries.”

They called the US the “chief imperialist warmonger,” aiming to maintain its monopoly on the world’s markets and resources, and to squeeze profit from intense armed conflicts.

“In all these conflicts, women and children are always the most vulnerable to atrocities by military forces and their puppet governments,” they stated. Imperialist wars result in widespread poverty, dislocation, unemployment and livelihoods, and severe oppression.

“Therefore, it is just and necessary that the movements for the liberation of Palestine and other parts of the world continue and advance towards defeating US imperialism. All oppressed and exploited peoples around the world must stand up to hold the US, Israel accountable and all their allies in atrocities and war crimes,” according to the women’s groups.