Photo Essay: On Gaza, Children, and War

The current Israeli offensive into Gaza has taken a heavy toll on everybody, but it's the innocent children on both sides whose suffering is most undeserved -- and most often exploited.

Lost childhood: War is traumatizing for anybody, but it’s especially devastating to the children caught in the crossfire. They are the ones who bear absolutely no responsibility for all the violence, yet they are the ones left with some of the worst physical and psychological scars — scars they’ll carry for life, warping their development into adults.

Photo: SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images

Preeti Aroon was copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009 to 2016 and was an FP assistant editor from 2007 to 2009. Twitter: @pjaroonFP

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