About 100 children have been killed or injured every day in Gaza since Israel resumed its military offensive on March 18th according to Unicef, the United Nations children’s agency. Unicef has put the death toll at more than 300 children.
The agency said that since March 2nd, when Israel reimposed its blockade on Gaza, more than one million children have been deprived of existential aid.
Unicef director Catherine Russell said on X that the two-month ceasefire which began on January 19th had provided a desperate lifeline for Gaza’s children and hope for a path to recovery. But children have again been plunged into a cycle of deadly violence and deprivation.”
“Nothing justifies the killing of children,” UN Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini posted on X on Saturday. Mr Lazzarini said “young lives [were being] cut short in a war not of children’s making.” While calling for a ceasefire, he added: “This is a stain on our common humanity.”.
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Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the longest since the war began, has led to “shortages of food, safe water, shelter and medical supplies,” Unicef reported on Reliefweb. As a result, it said “malnutrition, diseases and other preventable conditions will likely surge”, increasing preventable child fatalities.
Unicef regional director Edouard Beigbeder said the agency has “thousands of pallets of aid waiting to enter” Gaza, but “instead of saving lives, it is sitting in storage.” He said the aid must be delivered immediately in accordance with Israel’s obligations under international law.
Unicef said about 350 children being treated for malnutrition are at “serious risk” after 21 care centres were closed or have become inaccessible because of bombing.
High-nutrition food for infants – needed for growth when food stocks are low – has run out in central and southern Gaza, according to Unicef. It said there is enough “ready-to-use infant formula” for 400 children for a month.
Unicef said the renewal of hostilities and displacement of Palestinians in Gaza have compelled it to “scale back mental health and psychological support ... education, and child protection”.
The agency has also been forced to halt repairs to wells and water points.
In Gaza’s north, water is delivered by trucks while in the centre and south the flow of water from the main desalination plant has been cut by 85 per cent due to power outages and damage to the main water pipe, cutting supplies for one million people, including 400,000 children, from 16 to six litres a day per person.
Between February 22nd and 26th, during the ceasefire, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Unicef and Palestine’s health ministry conducted three rounds of a polio vaccination campaign which reached 603,000 children aged under 10.
While the Palestinian health ministry has accused Israel of banning the entry of polio vaccines, the WHO said discussions regarding a fourth round of vaccinations are ongoing.
