Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, is almost completely destroyed. Gaza: Number of children killed overnight reaches ‘double digits’ Peace and Security
Intense fighting continued in Gaza last night between Hamas militants and Israeli forces, resulting in the deaths of children. Delivering aid to people on the brink of famine has been difficult. UN humanitarian workers reported this on Tuesday.
Despite the UN Security Council resolution adopted the day before calling for a ceasefire during the month of Ramadan, violence in Gaza continued. Humanitarian organizations are today reminding the parties of the need to comply with the resolution to prevent an increase in the number of deaths and injuries.
Speaking in Rafah, a town in southern Gaza, United Nations Children’s Fund spokesman James Elder said 13,750 children have been killed in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes since Hamas attacked Israel since October 7, according to Gaza health authorities. .
Coming on reports of “a double-digit number of children killed overnight,” Elder noted that this happened “just hours after the Security Council resolution was adopted.”
Khan Yunis is “practically gone”
The city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip is almost completely destroyed, he added UNICEF representative. According to him, constant Israeli bombing has practically destroyed it, and people, entire families, including children, are buried under the rubble of buildings.
In 20 years of working at the UN, I have never seen such devastation. Chaos and destruction reign here; Everywhere you look there is debris and rubble…
“In 20 years of working at the UN, I have never seen such devastation. Chaos and destruction reign here; Everywhere you look there is rubble and rubble,” he said.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, where wounded children could receive at least some kind of care, is no longer functioning . Overall, a third of all hospitals in Gaza remain “partially operational,” according to a UNICEF representative.
Crisis situation in the north of the enclave
People in the north of the enclave are especially in a desperate situation. On Monday, for the first time in five days, the UN World Food Program (WFP) managed to secure the passage of 96 trucks carrying humanitarian aid into these areas. According to Elder, he saw people there who showed with gestures that they were starving.
At the same time, the UN recalls, hundreds of trucks with humanitarian aid lined up on the Egyptian-Gaza border, awaiting permission to enter.
Referring to a recently published report on the food situation in Gaza, Elder noted that the enclave’s residents are on the verge of mass famine. According to UNICEF, one in three children under two years of age currently suffers from acute malnutrition. Until October 7, fewer than one in a hundred children in Gaza were diagnosed with the condition. “This speaks volumes about the hardships children are enduring – there is no water in the enclave, the health system is not functioning properly, and food shortages have reached levels that pose a threat to the lives of children,” he added.
Before the war, about 500 vehicles carrying commercial and humanitarian supplies arrived in the enclave every day, but today’s figures are only a third of that number. The UNICEF representative recalled that in the north of Gaza, people could not get help at all for weeks.
Health crisis
An equally tragic picture is emerging with healthcare institutions. WHO spokesman Tarik Jazarevich said that most patients at Al-Amal Hospital, located in the south of the country, have already been evacuated from the hospital. The corresponding order, according to media reports, was previously given by the Israeli military.
Staff and patients at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, which survived Israeli raids, are in dire straits, but WHO has no access to it, Jasarevic said.
“We hear that health workers are dying, there are hospitals that are under siege, there are people who are seeking refuge in these places. If you cannot find refuge in a hospital, where else can you go?,” he said at a briefing in Geneva.
According to media reports, on the night of Tuesday airstrikes hit the city of Rafah, where some 1.5 million people are currently sheltering, many of whom have been driven from their homes in other parts of the enclave.
In Management The UN Humanitarian Affairs Committee (OCHA) also called on Israel to lift the ban on aid supplies to the north by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Let us recall that earlier the UN Secretary General made a similar call.