Geneva, June 16 (RHC)-- Israel’s war on Gaza has “robbed” Palestinian children in the territory of their childhood, says Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, who warns that an immediate ceasefire is needed “for the sake” of Palestinian and Israeli children.

Children suffer first and the most in wars and conflict, Lazzarini said in a post on social media, and far too many children in Gaza have been killed, injured, and “scarred for life”  “Those who survived are in deep trauma. Their schools have been destroyed [and] they lost a whole school year, with no education or play,” the UNRWA chief said.

The war has “robbed the children of Gaza of their childhood”, he said.  “Without a ceasefire, they will become a lost generation, easy to fall prey to exploitation,” he added.