The head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Catherine Russell, has called for action as children in the Gaza Strip face daily bloodshed.
“The world cannot look away when so many children are exposed to daily bloodshed, hunger, disease and cold,” said Catherine Russell.
She urgently called on all parties to the conflict and those who influence them to take decisive action to end the suffering of children, to release all hostages, to ensure respect for children’s rights and to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law.
She said 33 people, including at least eight children, were reportedly killed on Thursday in another “devastating attack” on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.
“The latest violence adds to the staggering number of more than 160 children reported killed in Gaza in just over a month. That’s an average of four children every day since early November,” she said.
Russell stressed that over 14,500 children have reportedly been killed in the past 14 months and that almost all of the 1.1 million children in Gaza are in urgent need of protection and mental health assistance.
“There is no safe space in Gaza, no sense of stability for children, who lack basic necessities like food, safe water, medical supplies and warm clothing as winter temperatures plummet,” Russell said.
She noted that preventable diseases continue to spread rapidly, including more than 800 cases of hepatitis and more than 300 cases of chickenpox.
