Malala Yousafzai. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai expressed her “solidarity” with the Palestinians as violence continues in the Middle East and called Israel’s actions “a crime against humanity” in a video message shared on Wednesday.

“After decades of oppression against Palestinians we cannot deny the asymmetry of power and the brutality, from Israeli air strikes on women and children in Gaza, to stun grenades targeting worshippers in Al-Aqsa,” the 23-year-old said. “Forced displacements, arrests, beatings and killings are a crime against humanity. People around the world … are calling on leaders to protect Palestinians’ human rights. I especially call for children’s safety. A Palestinian child should be sitting in a classroom, not in rubble. World leaders must act immediately.”

As a teenage girl, Yousafzai survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban in 2012. She was awarded the Nobel prize in 2014 for her “struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education,” according to the organization.

Among the Israeli fatalities of the ongoing hostilities has included Ido Avigal, a six-year-old boy killed by a Hamas rocket strike in the city of Sderot on Wednesday, and Nadine Awad, a 16-year-old Arab Israeli girl, who was killed with her father in a rocket attack on Lod.