Middle EastAnalysis

Unicef chief calls for immediate Gaza ceasefire

Catherine Russell declares that ‘inside the Strip, there is nowhere that is safe for Gaza’s one million children’

A truck carrying fuel prepare to cross into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, amid ongoing battles between Israel's IDF and Palestinian group Hamas. Photograph: Said Khabit/AFP/Getty Images

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Michael Jansen
Thu Nov 16 2023 - 06:00

UN children’s agency (Unicef) chief Catherine Russell has added her voice to the those calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Following meetings in Gaza’s Al-Naser hospital in Khan Yunis with children and Unicef staff, she said that Gazan children face “killing, maiming, abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access – all of which Unicef condemns”. She demanded the release of abducted and detained children, and unimpeded access to life-saving services and supplies.

Ms Russell said that 4,600 children have reportedly been killed and nearly 9,000 injured. Many are missing and “believed buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings and homes”, which she blamed on the “use of explosive weapons in populated areas”. She said: “Inside the Strip, there is nowhere that is safe for Gaza’s one million children.”

Since Israel said that Hamas killed 1,200 during a cross-border attack on October 7th, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the strip’s Hamas-run health ministry.

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Ms Russell found Unicef staff, like most Gazans, “living in overcrowded shelters with very little water, food and sanitation”. She said she had heard horrifying stories from staff who warned of the dangers faced by humanitarian workers in Gaza.

She also said that “violence continues with indiscriminate effects” at Gaza’s hospitals, which are without medical supplies and diesel, while premature babies cling to life in incubators which could cease functioning without fuel for electricity.

Israel has blocked the entry of fuel into Gaza for five weeks. UN relief director Martin Griffiths estimated that “at least a couple hundred thousand litres” are needed to restart UN operations.

The first truck carrying fuel into Gaza since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas crossed from Egypt on Wednesday to deliver diesel to the UN, though it will do little to alleviate shortages that have hampered relief efforts.

The delivery was made possible by Israel giving its approval for 24,000 litres of diesel fuel to be allowed into Gaza for UN aid distribution trucks, though not for use at hospitals, according to a humanitarian source.

“This is only 9 per cent of what we need daily to sustain life-saving activities,” Tom White, director of UN relief agency Unwra in Gaza, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He confirmed that just over 23,000 litres, or half a tanker, had been received.

Despite ever-present risk of death and injury, a 15-strong team of international and local staff from Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) has crossed from Egypt into Gaza to relieve exhausted doctors and bolster medical care. Until a Gaza-wide ceasefire is in place, the team will remain in the south of the strip, which has received 1.5 million Gazans who were told by Israel to leave the northern battleground.

As blue UN flags flew at half-mast in mourning in 193 UN member countries on Monday, the UN said more of its aid workers have been killed in Gaza than in any other conflict in the organisation’s 78-year history. All 102 deaths were sustained by Unwra, which cares for Palestinian refugees and employs 5,000 staff in Gaza. UNRWA serves 1.5 million registered refugees out of the Gaza Strip’s population of 2.3 million.

During the hostilities, 787,000 displaced Gazans have sheltered in 154 UNRWA installations. Although UNRWA has given the Israeli army the co-ordinates of these sites, 66 people were killed and 561 injured in attacks, the agency reported. Heavy rains and flooding have added to the misery of displaced families staying in makeshift tents.

Founded in 1949 to help 750,000 Palestinians dispersed during Israel’s war of establishment, UNRWA provides rations, education, healthcare and welfare aid to 5.7 million Palestinian refugees in the region.

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