Clothing Stretching Miles On Beach Represents Young Lives Lost In Gaza

This drone footage shows 5 km (16404.2 feet) (over 3 miles) of children’s clothing laid out on a beach as a heartbreaking memorial for children killed in Gaza.

Activists from Led By Donkeys laid out children’s clothing on Bournemouth beach to represent the 11,500 children’s lives lost in the violence since 7 October. The clothing was second-hand and reached a massive 5km (16404.2 feet) – and will be in place for up to 24 hours.

“All children are innocent whether they’re Palestinian or Israeli. Israel has killed over 11,500 Palestinian kids in Gaza and the West Bank since October 7th when 36 Israeli children were killed. It feels impossible to grasp that number. If you stood them shoulder to shoulder it would make a line five kilometres long,” said a spokesperson from Led By Donkeys.

“We’re doing this in the hope that seeing this scale will push people to help stop the killing. The UK, US and other governments should be doing all they can to protect children, starting with calling for an immediate ceasefire. Instead they’re actively arming the Israeli military that’s responsible for the deaths of over 99.6% of the children represented here,” added the spokesperson.

The group are one of many – including Christian Aid, Amnesty, and Human Rights Watch – who are calling on the UK government to suspend arms sales to Israel. Led By Donkeys, who were also responsible for the National Covid Memorial Wall opposite Parliament buildings, plan to donate the clothing to children’s charities after 24 hours.

According to figures from Gaza’s health ministry, which is managed by Hamas, about 300 people have died every day on average since the fighting began, excluding the seven-day ceasefire. These casualty statistics are reliable, according to Richard Brennan, regional emergency director for the World Health Organization.

It is difficult to count the dead in any conflict area, and Gaza’s physicians estimate that the death toll is probably much higher because it does not include people who were not carried to hospitals or buried beneath the debris of demolished structures.

Professor Michael Spagat, who specializes in studying death tolls in conflicts worldwide, including the 2003 Iraq war, the civil war in Colombia, the wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and earlier conflicts between Israel and Gaza, claims that the pace of killing in this war has been “exceptionally high”.

“Within the series of Gaza wars stretching back to 2008, the current one is unprecedented both for the number of people killed and for the indiscriminateness of the killing,” said Professor Michael Spagat.

Produced in association with SWNS Talker