Gaza is the world’s most dangerous place to be a child, says UNICEF

“The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. And day after day, that brutal reality is reinforced,” today said UNICEF spokesperson James Elder during a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

“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,” he said.

Elder explained that the “safe zones” are tiny patches of barren land, or street corners, or half-built buildings, with no water, no facilities, no shelter from the cold and the rain, and no sanitation.

“And so without water and sanitation, nor shelter, these so-called safe zones have become zones of disease. Diarrhea cases in children are above 100,000. Acute respiratory illness cases in civilians are above 150,000. Both numbers will be gross undercounts of the woeful reality,” he said.

“Without sufficient safe water, food and sanitation that only a humanitarian ceasefire can bring – child deaths due to disease could surpass those killed in bombardments,” said the UNICEF spokesperson.

“Parents are painfully aware that hospitals are not an option for their sick child – both because hospitals are getting hit, and because hospitals are overwhelmed with children and citizens with the ghastly wounds of war,” he said.

“As we speak, the delivery of aid is a matter of life or death for children in Gaza and the conditions to provide that aid are not being met. An immediate and long-lasting humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to end the killing and injuring of children, and child deaths from disease, and enable the urgent delivery of desperately needed lifesaving aid,” stressed the UNICEF spokesperson.