Israel Hamas war: 29 Nobel Laureates, including Satyarthi, appeal for compassion for all children

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Amid ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, with other nobel laureates has appealed for compassion for all children in the war reminding the world that all the children in Israel and Gaza are “our children” and need protection and immediate humanitarian aid.

In a joint statement, in a rare initiative, 29 Nobel Laureates joined Indian Nobel Laureate Satyarthi in signing a statement today reminding the world that all the children in Israel and Gaza are “our children” and need protection and immediate humanitarian aid.

The Nobel Laureates from all the six Nobel fields called for urgent release of the kidnapped children and a safe passage for all the children away from the conflict.

The statement jointly said that all children and vulnerable persons must receive humanitarian aid immediately, and “compassion should not be reserved for only one group of children in the war-torn zone” as shown by many protests and leaders.

Warning the world of the grave risk of even worse loss of life in the coming weeks, Satyarthi said: “We urge everyone to remember that children have not caused any wars and they bear no responsibility for the situation. To make progress on a just and lasting peace, we need compassion for all the children who are suffering.”

“Palestinian children are our children. Israeli children are our children. We cannot consider ourselves civilised if this is what we do,” the joint statement said.

The Nobel Laureates urged everyone to join in their appeal for lasting peace in Israel, Palestine and beyond, and light three candles.

“Tonight, in the middle of this darkness, we will light three candles — one for all the children killed and kidnapped in Israel, one for all the children killed and maimed in the bombing and fighting in Gaza, and one for humanity and hope,” the statement read.

The Nobel Laureates, who have issued the joint statement along with Satyarthi (2014, Nobel Peace Laureate), include HE José Manuel Ramos-Horta (1996 Nobel Peace Laureate), Oscar Arias (1987 Nobel Peace Laureate), Steven Chu (Nobel Laureate in Physics), Barry Barish (2017 Nobel Laureate in Physics), Johann Deisenhofer (1988 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry).

Even Shirin Ebadi (2003 Nobel Peace Laureate), Mohamed ElBaradei (2005 Nobel Peace Laureate), Mdm. Leymah Gbowee (2011 Nobel Peace Laureate), Richard Henderson (2017 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry), Tasuku Honjo (2018 Nobel Laureate in Medicine), Louis Ignarro (1998 Nobel Laureate in Medicine), Sir Kazuo Ishiguro (2017 Nobel Laureate in Literature), Mdm. Tawakkol Karman (2011 Nobel Peace Laureate), Martin Karplus (2013 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry), Brian Kobilka (2012 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry), Yuan Lee (1986 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry), Eric Maskin (2007 Nobel Laureate in Economics), Mdm. Oleksandra Matviichuk (2022 Nobel Peace Laureate), Mdm. Rigoberta Menchú Tum (1992 Nobel Peace Laureate), Giorgio Parisi (2021 Nobel Laureate in Physics), Sir Christopher A Pissarides (2010 Nobel Laureate in Economics), Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (2009 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry), Sir Peter Ratcliffe (2019 Nobel Laureate in Medicine), Richard J. Roberts (1993 Nobel Laureate in Medicine), and Mdm. Corazon Valdez Fabros and Philip Jennings (International Peace Bureau, 1910 Nobel Peace Laureate), Mdm. Jody Williams (1997 Nobel Peace Laureate) and Sir Gregory Winter (2018 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry), Prof. Dr. Serge Haroche 2012 Nobel Laureate in Physics signed the statement.

In its latest situation update, the UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) said the death toll in Israel as of Thursday stood at 1,400, which included foreign nationals, as Palestinian armed groups’ continued indiscriminate rocket firing towards Israeli population centres. The number of injured increased to 4,562.

According to the OCHA, Israel’s death toll is over threefold the cumulative number of Israelis killed since the Office began recording casualties in 2005 (nearly 400).

Meanwhile, at least 199 people are currently being held captive in Gaza, it added.

Citing the Palestinian Health Ministry based in Gaza, the OCHA said that the death toll in Gaza has increased to 3,478, including 853 children, with about 12,500 others injured.

The UN agency said the deadly bombing at Al Ahli Arab Baptist hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday left at least 471 people dead, including children, healthcare staff and Internally Displaced People (IDPs).

–IANS

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