Health officials in Gaza confirmed the staggering toll, stating that hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of casualties. The renewed hostilities erupted after diplomatic efforts to extend the truce between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants failed, plunging the region back into violence.

“The situation is catastrophic,” said Dr. Ahmed Hamdan, a spokesperson for Al-Shifa Hospital. “We are seeing an unprecedented number of child casualties. Our medical facilities are beyond capacity, and we are running critically low on supplies.”

Eyewitnesses reported relentless bombardments in residential neighborhoods, with many families caught in the crossfire. Parents, aid workers, and human rights organizations have described the devastation as unbearable.

“We have nowhere to go,” said Aisha Mahmoud, a mother who lost two children in the latest attacks. “There are no safe zones, no shelters. Every home, every street, is a target.”

The international community has responded with urgent calls for restraint and renewed peace negotiations. The United Nations has condemned the loss of civilian life and urged all parties to cease hostilities immediately.

“Children must never be the victims of war,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “We demand an immediate cessation of violence and the provision of humanitarian aid to those in desperate need.”

The Israeli government has defended its military actions, citing continued rocket fire from militant groups as the reason for its operations. A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that their airstrikes targeted Hamas strongholds but acknowledged that civilian casualties were a tragic consequence of urban warfare.

Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations warn that without urgent intervention, the situation will continue to deteriorate. The Palestinian Red Crescent has called for safe corridors to evacuate the wounded, while UNICEF has demanded an end to attacks on children and infrastructure essential for their survival.

Calls for a new ceasefire intensify, but for many families, the losses suffered in recent days are irreparable.

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China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s comments came during a series of weekend calls, as world leaders worked to avert a wider conflict in the Middle East.

The Chinese foreign minister said there is a need for all parties to return to the negotiation table and desist from further escalating the conflict.

“It should listen earnestly to the calls of the international community and the UN secretary general, and cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza.

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An Israeli official told CNN, contradicting a previous public statement by the Prime Minister’s office.

“There have been cases of Hamas militants carrying out beheadings and other ISIS-style atrocities. However, we cannot confirm if the victims were men or women, soldiers or civilians, adults or children,” the official said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that people had been beheaded by Hamas in an appearance beside Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, but did not specify if they were children.

US President Joe Biden appeared to confirm that information. In a roundtable with Jewish community leaders on Wednesday, he said: “I have been doing this a long time, I never really thought that I would see… have confirmed pictures of terrorist beheading children.”

A US administration official later clarified Biden’s remarks, telling CNN that neither Biden nor his aides had seen pictures or had received confirmed reports of children or infants having been beheaded by Hamas. The official clarified that Biden was referring to public comments from media outlets and Israeli officials.

Hamas on Wednesday denied the allegations. Izzat al-Risheq, a senior official and spokesperson for the Islamist militant group, said that the international media had “spread lies about our Palestinian people and the resistance claiming that members of the Palestinian resistance beheaded children and attacked women with no evidence to support such claims and lies.”

CNN has pored through hundreds of hours of media posted online attempting to corroborate accounts of atrocities committed by Hamas. In one video, which CNN determined to be authentic but has not been able to geolocate, an assailant attacks an injured man with a garden tool in an attempt to behead him. But CNN has not seen anything that would appear to confirm the claims of decapitated children.

CNN also visited the ransacked ruins of Kfar Aza on Tuesday and saw no evidence of beheaded youths. Israeli officials have not released any photographs of the incident either.

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