Middle East

Ramallah: The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) reported on Thursday that children make up 43 percent of the population in Palestine, with more than 39,000 orphans in the Gaza Strip, marking largest orphan crisis in modern history. The estimates revealed that 39,384 children in Gaza lost one or both parents after 534 days of Israeli aggression, with around 17,000 of them left without either parent, facing a harsh reality of life without support or care. In its statement ahead of Palestinian Children's Day on April 5, PCBS emphasized that famine and malnutrition are threatening children's lives in Gaza, with 60,000 expected cases of severe malnutrition. It also confirmed the return of polio to Gaza Strip. The report noted that since October 7, Israeli occupation forces arrested more than 1,055 children, in a systematic violation of children's rights and a blatant breach of international law. Demographic estimates indicate that the population of the State of Palestine reached about 5.5 million by the end of 2024, with 3.4 million residing in West Bank and 2.1 million in Gaza Strip. Palestinian society is characterized by its young demographic, with children under the age of 18 constituting 43 percent of the total population, or approximately 2.38 million, with 1.39 million in West Bank and 0.98 million in Gaza. The under-15 age group represents 37 percent of the total population, around 2.03 million, with 1.18 million in the West Bank and 0.9 million in Gaza. Children under 18 make up 47 percent of Gaza's population, compared to 41 percent in West Bank, while 40.3 percent of Gaza's population is under the age of 15, compared to 34.8 percent in the West Bank. During the 534 days of Israeli aggression on Gaza, Palestinian children have faced an unprecedented humanitarian disaster, constituting more than 60 percent of the total casualties, along with women. The aggression resulted in the martyrdom of 50,021 Palestinians, including 17,954 children of whom 274 were infants born and martyred under the bombardment, 876 children under the age of one, 17 children who died from the cold in displaced persons' tents, and 52 children who perished due to starvation and systematic malnutrition. Additionally, 113,274 people were injured, 69 percent of whom were women and children, while more than 11,200 individuals are still missing, 70 percent of them women and children. In West Bank, 923 Palestinians have been martyred, including 188 children, and 660 children have been injured since the start of the Israeli aggression until the date of issuing this statement. A report from prisoner rights organizations highlighted an unprecedented increase in the Israeli occupation's arrests of Palestinian children. During 2024 alone, at least 700 children were arrested, raising the total number of detained children since the outbreak of the war to more than 1,055. Furthermore, approximately 7,700 newborns are at risk of death due to a lack of medical care, as remaining hospitals operate at extremely limited capacity, putting children's lives in danger. The shortage of incubators, respirators, and essential medications worsened the health conditions, increasing the likelihood of fatalities.

Asia

Kuala Lumpur: The latest search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been suspended by maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity as it is "not the season", Kuala Lumpur's transport minister said, more than a decade after the plane went missing. "They (Ocean Infinity) have stopped the operation for the time being, they will resume the search at the end of this year," Transport Minister Anthony Loke said in a voice recording sent to AFP on Thursday by his aide. Ocean Infinity, based in Britain and the United States, led an unsuccessful hunt in 2018, before agreeing to launch a new search this year. "Right now, it's not the season," Loke said in the recording, which was made during an event at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday. The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has not been found. Loke's comments come a little over a month after authorities said the search had resumed, following earlier failed attempts that covered vast swaths of the Indian Ocean. An initial Australia-led search trawled 120,000 square kilometres (46,300 square miles) of the Indian Ocean over three years, but found hardly any trace of the plane. Maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity, based in Britain and the United States, led an unsuccessful hunt in 2018, before agreeing to launch a new search this year. "Whether or not it will be found will be subject to the search, nobody can anticipate," Loke said, referring to the wreckage of the plane. Relatives of the victims had voiced hope in February that a new search could finally bring them closure. Aviation mystery Loke said in December that a new 15,000 square kilometre area of the southern Indian Ocean would be scoured by Ocean Infinity. The most recent mission was conducted on the same "no find, no fee" principle as Ocean Infinity's previous search, with the government only paying out if the firm finds the aircraft. The plane's disappearance has long been the subject of theories -- ranging from the credible to outlandish -- including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue. A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually. Investigators said in the 495-page report that they still did not know why the plane vanished, and refused to rule out that someone other than the pilots had diverted the jet. Two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese, while the others were from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and elsewhere. Relatives of passengers lost on the flight have continued to demand answers from Malaysian authorities. Family members of Chinese passengers gathered in Beijing outside government offices and the Malaysian embassy last month on the 11th anniversary of the flight's disappearance. Attendees of the gathering shouted, "Give us back our loved ones!" Some held placards asking, "When will the 11 years of waiting and torment end?"

Middle East

Riyadh: GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Al Budaiwi has decried an Israeli occupation minister's storming of Al Aqsa Mosque as a flagrant violation of Islamic sanctities. Al Budaiwi said that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's storming of Islam's third holiest site, along with extremist colonists, is and an indication of the occupation forces' schemes to continue destabilizing security and stability in the Palestinian territories. He dismissed such repeated moves as a grave violation of international law and the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites. They are a clear and blatant violation of the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a provocation of Muslim sentiments, and an exacerbation of tensions in the region, pushing the situation into a spiral of ongoing violence, he said.