UNICEF urges immediate cease-fire in Gaza
The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza during the Israeli military onslaught has reached 34,151, including 14,500 children and 9,500 women
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has demanded an immediate end to the killing of Palestinian children following Israeli airstrikes that claimed the lives of more young ones in the Gaza Strip.
“Children in the State of Palestine have been caught in a tragic and vicious cycle of violence for too long. This is a war disproportionately affecting children,” said Adele Khodr, UNICEF regional director in the Middle East and North Africa.
“The killing of children needs to stop. We need a cease-fire. Now,” added Khodr.
“In the past 72 hours, three Palestinian children were killed in the latest military operation in Tulkarem in the West Bank, and at least another 14 children were reportedly killed in Rafah,” she said.
Death toll from Israeli airstrikes on 2 homes in Rafah rises to 24
Israeli airstrikes overnight killed 24 Palestinians in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said.
The two airstrikes late Sunday and early Monday targeted two houses in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city on the coastal enclave’s frontier with Egypt, it said. The ministry, as well as local reports, said most of the dead were women and children.
More than 1 million residents of Gaza have been sheltering in the small city after having fled their homes since the start of Israel’s offensive in October.
Gaza death toll hits 34,151 as Israel army announces ‘next step’
The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza during the Israeli military onslaught has reached 34,151. Another 77,084 have been wounded, the Health Ministry said.
The death toll is likely far higher, with thousands believed buried under the rubble of buildings demolished in Israeli strikes.
Among the dead are more than 14,500 children and 9,500 women, Gaza’s media office said.
The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
Source: Newsroom
