UNRWA chief says high number of children killed in Gaza compares to 4 years of world conflict

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 14th March. UNRWA High Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarin on Wednesday said that more children have been killed in Gaza han in four years of conflict worldwide. After  reports of fresh Israeli airstrikes in Gaza overnight into Wednesday,

“This war is a war on children. It is a war on their childhood and their future,” Philippe Lazzarini, who described as “staggering” the latest Gaza health authority data indicated that 12,300 youngsters have died in Gaza in the last four months, compared with 12,193 globally between 2019 and 2022.

He reiterated international calls for an immediate ceasefire in the enclave, where intense Israeli bombardment in response to Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October has leveled entire neighborhoods.

According to the local health authorities over 31,184 Palestinians have been killed and 72,889 injured,

As of 12 March, 247 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza with 1,475 injured since the start of the ground operation, Israeli army data showed.

On Wednesday the UNWRA agency reported that at least one staffer had been killed and 22 injured when Israeli Forces hit a food distribution centre in the eastern part of Rafah in the far south of the Strip.

Mr. Lazzarini said “Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centres in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine”.

“Every day, we share the coordinates of all our facilities across the Gaza Strip with parties to the conflict. The Israeli army received the coordinates including of this facility yesterday,” he said

UNRWA has recorded an unprecedented number of violations against its staff and facilities.

The agency said that 165 team members have been killed including while in the line of duty, with more than 150 facilities hit, among them many schools.

OCHA warned of the catastrophic situation in Gaza, where one in four is close to famine at least 576,000 people. Some 25 individuals have now died from severe acute malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza.

UNICEF has warned that youngsters are those least able to cope with hunger and disease, with one million youngsters already uprooted from their homes by the war and some 17,000 unaccompanied or separated children – one per cent of the 1.7 million Gazans displaced.

WFP was able to send aid convoy to Gaza City.

“With people in northern Gaza on the brink of famine, we need daily deliveries to the north, as well as direct entry points,” WFP said in the latest UN update on the crisis.

Some 19 UN-partners reached a daily average of 200,000 people in Gaza with food assistance, including food parcels and hot meals, reported UN aid office, OCHA.

“More than two thirds were in Rafah, with the rest in Deir al Balah, Khan Younis and other areas.”

WHO and partners reached 2 hospitals in northern Gaza on Monday – Al Shifa and Al Helou – in addition to others reached at the weekend: Al-Ahil Arab Hospital and Al-Sahaba Hospital.

Food and 24,000 litres of fuel delivered to Al Shifa, along with medical supplies for 42,000 patients, including medicines, anaesthetic drugs and surgical materials.

WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Al Shifa was only minimally functional and urgently needed specialized health workers.

Tedros added that needs remain dire at Al Helou hospital, with services limited across all departments, along with shortages of fuel, food, surgical equipment and medical staff.