Palestinian children, journalists killed in Gaza commemorated in Netherlands

A memorial event was held in the Netherlands on Sunday to commemorate Palestinian children and journalists killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The event, organized by the Plant an Olive Tree Foundation in the central Markt Square in the city of Den Bosch, featured photographs and names of journalists killed in the attacks, while thousands of children’s shoes were placed across the square.

Participants also read aloud the names and ages of children killed in Gaza, while volunteers distributed leaflets and provided information about the situation in the Palestinian enclave.

Esther van der Most, a director at the Plant an Olive Tree Foundation, said the event marked the 17th memorial for Palestinian children and the fifth for journalists killed in Gaza.

She said the first memorial, held in Rotterdam in December 2023, displayed 8,000 pairs of shoes, and the number of children killed has since risen to 21,000.

“We are here today because we want Palestinians to be able to live, grow old, be safe and live freely,” van der Most told Anadolu. “Because of the genocide that Israel continues to carry out against the Palestinian people, this is not possible today,” she added.

Van der Most said the violence was not limited to Gaza, pointing to killings in the occupied West Bank.

“How can one speak of a ceasefire while people are being killed every day?” she said, referring to the death of a seven-month-old baby named Sam in the West Bank last week.

Van der Most also called on the Dutch government to take action against Israel. “Stop this, impose sanctions, take action and do not continue to give Israel a special position while it continues to kill a people,” she said.

She added that the event also sought to honor journalists killed in the conflict.

“The number has now exceeded 300. When you silence journalists, you want to prevent the truth from reaching the outside world. We will continue to make that truth heard,” she added.

Since the start of Israel’s genocide on Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, nearly 73,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 173,000 injured, while about 90% of the territory’s civilian infrastructure has been destroyed.