Situation for Gaza children getting 'worse' with each passing day, warns UNICEF

GENEVA

The situation for children in Gaza is "worsening" with each passing day, with growing food, water, and medicine shortages compounded by ongoing Israeli attacks and severe restrictions on humanitarian aid, a UNICEF spokesperson warned on Tuesday.

James Elder told a UN press briefing in Geneva that many Gaza children have been displaced multiple times since the outbreak of war over a year ago.

"Every single day, those deprivations increase," Elder said, emphasizing the dire conditions faced by families in the region as "85% of the Gaza Strip" is under some form of evacuation order and "unlivable" conditions.

He highlighted the sharp decline in humanitarian aid delivery, particularly in August, which saw the "lowest amount of aid" entering Gaza since the conflict began. He also noted that in recent days, no commercial trucks were allowed to enter Gaza, further exacerbating the situation.

Elder issued a stark warning that unless restrictions on aid are lifted and bombardments are ceased, the already dire situation for children will only worsen.

"Day after day, the situation for children becomes worse than the day before, and that's going to continue so long as we see ongoing strikes and so long as we see now what is probably the worst restrictions we've seen on humanitarian aid," he said. "As hard as is to imagine, tomorrow will be worse for children than today."

Save the Children International also described the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) as "now the deadliest place in the world for children."

"At least 3,100 children under 5 have been killed in Gaza and thousands are at risk of severe malnutrition as famine looms," it said Tuesday on X.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 42,300 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 98,600 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.