The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child, UNICEF warned yesterday.
“Over the past 48 hours, the largest remaining fully functioning hospital was shelled, twice. That hospital – Al Nasser in Khan Yunis – not only shelters large numbers of children who had already been badly injured in attacks on their homes, but hundreds of women and children seeking safety,” UNICEF Spokesperson Jamer Elder said.
And so where do children and their families go? They are not safe in hospitals. They are not safe in shelters. And they are certainly not safe in the so-called ‘safe’ zones.
In Gaza, some 70 per cent of those killed are children and women. To date more than 10,000 children have been killed since 7 October while thousands have lost a limb in Israel’s brutal bombing campaign.
Elder’s stark warning comes days after those of UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Ted Chaiban, who said: “The situation has gone from catastrophic to near collapse. UNICEF has described the Gaza Strip as the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. We have said this is a war on children. But these truths do not seem to be getting through.”
Slamming the hiderance of aid supplies getting into the Strip, he added: “The little food that is available doesn’t meet children’s unique nutritional needs. As a result, thousands of children are malnourished and sick.”
“This is nothing short of a staggering decline in conditions for the children of Gaza. If this decline persists, we could see deaths due to indiscriminate conflict compounded by deaths due to disease and hunger.”
Source: Middle East Monitor
