A mother reacts as she mourns by the body of her son who was killed in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombardment in al-Maghazi in the central Gaza Strip on June 25, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Washington, June 27 (RHC)--  The main Muslim civil rights group in the United States has called on the international community and the American people to take action after a new report revealed that up to 21,000 children are missing in the chaos of the war in Gaza.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in a statement issued in Washingotn called on the world community and the American people to act on a report by Save the Children organization on the number of children buried, trapped, detained, or lost amid Gaza war, and end U.S.-backed mass slaughter of Palestinian children.

In a recent report, Save the Children disclosed a distressing finding that said approximately 21,000 children are believed to be missing in Gaza.  Thousands are presumed dead beneath the rubble, while others have been harmed by explosives, buried in unmarked or mass graves, or have been detained or abducted.

“This genocide must end, and the Palestinian people must be treated as human beings, not animals to be slaughtered at will by a genocidal” regime, “with the support of the Biden administration,” the statement said.  CAIR further noted that those responsible must be held accountable by institutions upholding international law and justice.

At least 10,000 individuals are reported missing under the rubble, and children account for 43% of total casualties in the ongoing conflict, the report said. This means an estimated 5,160 children are dead under the rubble, the report added.

Moreover, the organization said the bodies of children have been among those recently found in mass graves, with many showing signs of torture.

This comes as the UN has also raised the alarm about the mass detention of possibly thousands of people, including children, reporting cases of ill-treatment in detention by Israeli forces.

CAIR further pointed to the findings of a recent investigation by Associated Press, which revealed that the far-right Israeli administration’s attacks on Gaza have wiped out “entire Palestinian families,” saying it once again prove Israel’s genocidal intent.  It also called on the Joe Biden administration to stop enabling and backing the starvation of children in Gaza by the Israeli regime.

The civil rights group also condemned the apparent systematic destruction of housing, health facilities and water wells in Gaza by Israeli forces as the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says less than one-third of health facilities are operational.

Israel's savagery is having a catastrophic impact on the Gaza children, causing mental harm to them. Many are losing their lives due to the regime’s imposed starvation on the besieged Palestinian territory.

Over 495,000 Palestinians in Gaza are facing severe food shortages, with 50,000 children requiring immediate medical treatment for acute malnutrition, according to UN and humanitarian organizations reports.

Israel’s genocidal war has claimed the lives of nearly 37,626 Palestinian, including more than 14,000 children, since October 7 last year.