NEW YORK, Monday, April 6, 2024 (WAFA) - With the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip continuing to deteriorate, UNICEF is warning that a military besiegement and ground incursion in Rafah would pose catastrophic risks to the 600,000 children currently taking shelter in the enclave.
“Given the high concentration of children in Rafah – including many who are highly vulnerable and at the edge of survival – as well as the likely intensity of the violence, with potential evacuation corridors likely mined or littered with unexploded ordnance; and shelter and services in areas for relocation very likely to be limited – UNICEF is warning of a further catastrophe for children, with military operations resulting in very high civilian casualties and the few remaining basic services and infrastructure they need to survive being totally destroyed,” said UNICEF in a statement.
“More than 200 days of war have taken an unimaginable toll on the lives of children,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director. “Rafah is now a city of children, who have nowhere safe to go in Gaza. If large-scale military operations start, not only will children be at risk from the violence, but also from chaos and panic, and at a time where their physical and mental states are already weakened.”
UNICEF said that hundreds of thousands of children in Rafah are estimated to have a disability, medical condition, or other vulnerability that puts them in even greater jeopardy from the looming military operations in the city; adding that “about 78,000 children are infants under 2 years of age and about 175,000 children are under 5 years of age – or 9 in 10 – are affected by one or more infectious diseases.”
“Hundreds of thousands of children who are now cramped into Rafah are injured, sick, malnourished, traumatized, or living with disabilities,” said Russell. “Many have been displaced multiple times, and have lost homes, parents and loved ones. They need to be protected along with the remaining services that they rely on, including medical facilities and shelter.”
UNICEF reiterated the call of the Interagency Standing Committee for Israel ‘to fulfill its legal obligation, under international humanitarian and human rights law, to provide food and medical supplies and facilitate aid operations, and on the world’s leaders to prevent an even worse catastrophe from happening.’
Underscoring the special vulnerabilities of children, UNICEF called for an immediate and long-lasting humanitarian ceasefire.
T.R.
