Generation in peril: UNICEF sounds alarm on Gaza’s children amid daily bloodshed

The head of the U.N.’s children’s agency, UNICEF, urged action late Friday as children in the Gaza Strip face bloodshed on a daily basis.

“The world cannot look away when so many children are exposed to daily bloodshed, hunger, disease, and cold,” Catherine Russell said in a statement. “We urgently call on all parties to the conflict, and on those with influence over them, to take decisive action to end the suffering of children, to release all hostages, to ensure children’s rights are upheld, and to adhere to obligations under international humanitarian law.”

She noted that 33 people, including at least eight children, were reportedly killed Thursday in another “devastating attack” on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

“The latest violence adds to a staggering figure of more than 160 children reportedly killed in Gaza in a little over a month. That is an average of four children every day since the beginning of November,” she said.

Russell emphasized that during the last 14 months, more than 14,500 children have reportedly been killed and nearly all of the 1.1 million children in Gaza urgently require protection and mental health assistance.

“There is no safe space in Gaza, nor any sense of stability for children, who lack essentials such as food, safe water, medical supplies, and warm clothes as winter temperatures drop,” said Russell.

“Preventable diseases continue to rapidly spread, including more than 800 cases of hepatitis, and more than 300 cases of chickenpox,” she added.