What does it look like when a childhood is stolen?

A new UN report accuses Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, documenting what it describes as the destruction of childhood through death, injury, displacement and psychological trauma. The report has already become deeply politicised, with supporters and critics fiercely debating its findings.

But beyond the politics are the children themselves.

In this episode of The View From Here, Jasmine El-Gamal speaks with humanitarian Arwa Damon, founder of INARA, and pediatrician Dr. Seema Jilani, two women who have spent years caring for children in war zones, including Gaza.

Together they discuss what they witnessed on the ground, how Gaza compares with other conflicts they've worked in, what prolonged war does to childhood, and why so many people have become desensitised to images of suffering. They also reflect on the challenge of bearing witness, whether testimony can still change minds, and what they wish every policymaker—and every one of us—could understand about the daily lives of children living through war.

Episode Notes:

INARA (International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance):

https://www.inara.org/

UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry report:

"The essence of childhood has been destroyed": Israel's deliberate targeting of Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023

https://www.un.org/unispal/document/coi-report-23jun26/

Arwa's Substack: https://substack.com/@arwadamon