GAZA, April 19, 2025 (WAFA) – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today that hospitals treating children and newborns in the Gaza Strip are operating under extremely dire conditions and lack essential medical equipment, as Israel’s assault on the enclave enters its 19th month.

In a post on its X account, UNICEF stated that the survival of children in Gaza now depends on a ceasefire and the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid into the besieged territory.

“Hospitals in Gaza treating newborns and children don’t have enough medical equipment and are operating under extremely challenging circumstances,” the agency noted, calling for the immediate resumption of humanitarian access.

The appeal comes as part of growing international concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where ongoing Israeli airstrikes and siege have devastated infrastructure, displaced the majority of the population, and crippled the health care system.

On Friday, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) also reported that the current siege on Gaza is “more severe than the initial weeks following October 7, 2023.”

According to UNRWA, over 420,000 people have been newly displaced across Gaza since March 18, 2025, due to renewed Israeli attacks.

M.N