“A “With each passing week, families face new horrors in the Gaza Strip. Devastating attacks on schools and sites hosting internally displaced people continue to reportedly kill hundreds of Palestinians, many of them women and children, and leave already overwhelmed hospitals collapsing under the pressure,” said the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in a statement signed by the agency’s Executive Director, Catherine Russell.
In the text, the UN agency denounces that numerous children who have survived injuries are being hit again, that doctors and nurses are without resources to save lives, that “thousands of sick, hungry boys and girls” are separated from their families and that violence and deprivation “are leaving permanent scars” on the “vulnerable bodies and minds” of Palestinian minors.
Deteriorating sanitation and sewage treatment facilities are also creating new threats in the Palestinian enclave, including the spread of the polio virus, particularly to thousands of unvaccinated children, UNICEF said.
“As families are repeatedly forced to move to escape the immediate violence, the humanitarian situation is beyond catastrophic,” continues Catherine Russell.
“Humanitarian agencies, including UNICEF, are doing everything they can to respond, but the dire situation and attacks on humanitarian workers continue to hamper our efforts,” he added.
The UNICEF official recalled that on Tuesday, a clearly identified vehicle belonging to this UN agency was hit by bullets as it was preparing to rescue five children who were supposed to be reunited with their father after their mother was killed by Israeli troops. In this case, no one was injured and the family was reunited, avoiding serious humanitarian consequences.
“In short, we do not have the conditions in the Gaza Strip for a robust humanitarian response. The flow of aid must be unimpeded and access must be regular and safe,” the UN agency urges.
“For almost nine months now, aid has been trickling into Gaza. Civilians have been deprived of supplies. The commercial sector has been decimated. This has led to increased competition for what little is available, the smuggling of goods into Gaza and now the increasingly organised theft of aid supplies. This not only impedes our efforts to reach vulnerable families, but also puts our teams and the civilians we are supporting at risk,” she said.
He added: “The challenge is exacerbated by the conditions on the ground. At least 278 humanitarian workers in the Gaza Strip have been killed — a record number — while others are put in harm’s way or prevented from doing their jobs.”
An immediate improved health environment and safety for aid delivery trucks while ensuring safe conditions for humanitarian workers are some of the priorities highlighted by the UNICEF Executive Director.
“Most critically, we need an immediate and sustainable ceasefire,” stresses Catherine Russell.
“We call on all parties to this conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law. They must protect civilians and the infrastructure they depend on. This includes ensuring that civilians receive the essential elements for survival – food, water, nutritional treatment, shelter and health care – through safe and unimpeded humanitarian operations,” it reinforces.
“For the children of Gaza to have a healthy and safe future”, the UNICEF leader argues that “it is time” to end the ongoing conflict, also calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the enclave by the Islamist group Hamas.
The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas was triggered by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist group on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which caused around 1,200 deaths and more than two hundred hostages, according to Israeli authorities.
Following the Hamas attack, Israel launched a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has already caused more than 39,000 deaths, mostly civilians, and nearly 90,000 injuries, as well as a humanitarian disaster, destabilizing the entire Middle East region.
Read Also: About 150,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced in 2 days
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2604122/unicef-define-situacao-humanitaria-em-gaza-para-alem-de-catastrofica
