HEARTBREAKING letters from Palestinian children asking for a ceasefire in Gaza have been delivered to Downing Street.

A letter from 15-year-old Mais Abdel Hadi said children in Gaza live in a “constant state of fear and anxiety, with shells accompanying us around the clock.” 

She asks: “Why must we children pay such a horrendous price?”

The Palestinian Children’s Council president says that “psychological wounds worsen, and physical suffering increases.”

She is currently displaced with her family in Khan Younis Governorate.

The messages to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were handed in on Tuesday afternoon in a box, which had the words “Gaza Can’t Wait” printed on the outside, by delegates including Ray Hasan from Christian Aid and Reverend Claire Whitmore from Christians for Palestine.

Save the Children has estimated that up to 21,000 children are missing in Gaza, with many trapped beneath rubble, detained, buried in unmarked graves, or separated from their families.

In March, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that more than 14,000 children had been killed since October 7.

Commissioner-General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini said today that Israeli attacks on schools have become “an almost daily occurrence.”

“At least eight schools [were] hit in the last 10 days, including six UNRWA schools,” Lazzarini wrote on X.

“The war [has] robbed the girls and boys in Gaza of their childhood and education.”

Earlier this week, Foreign Secretary David Lammy called for an immediate ceasefire during his first trip to Israel and occupied Palestine.

However, Global Legal Action Network has said the calls are “meaningless” while Britain continues to grant Israel arms licences.