Gaza children thank US university students for support amid Israeli onslaught

Palestinian children gathered in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday to express gratitude to US university students amid Israel's ongoing offensive on the enclave.

"Thank you to the brave students in American universities" and "Thank you for standing with Gaza," read some banners waved by the children in the city of Deir al-Balah.

"We express our appreciation to American university students for their solidarity with the Palestinian people," Awani Khattab, a displaced Palestinian, told Anadolu.

"Arab and European university students should emulate these students to end the war completely in Gaza," he added.

A Palestinian woman, who preferred to remain unnamed, urged Arab university students "to stand with the Palestinian people amid the Israeli war on the enclave."

"The students in American universities empathize with our suffering. We appreciate their courageous stance," she said.

Students in American universities have been protesting since last month against the Israeli war on Gaza and their universities' investments in companies supporting Israel.

Israel has waged an unrelenting offensive on the Palestinian enclave since a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7, which killed some 1,200 people.

More than 34,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and thousands of others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.