KUALA LUMPUR – United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) executive director Henrietta Fore yesterday called for the immediate cessation of hostilities on humanitarian grounds to allow the entry of essential supplies and staff.
She urged the establishment of humanitarian corridors for the UN body to deliver supplies – which include fuel, medical items, first aid kits and Covid-19 vaccines – for families to reunite and access essential services, and the sick or wounded to be evacuated.
“Every day the conflict continues, children across the State of Palestine and Israel will suffer. These children need a ceasefire now, and a long-term political solution to the broader conflict.
“They deserve far better than this horrible cycle of violence and fear that has gone on for far too long,” she said in a statement issued in New York yesterday.
The already weakened water and sanitation systems have been further compromised as a result of this latest escalation, in which Unicef estimated that 325,000 people need emergency water and sanitation services, without which they are more likely to contract potentially deadly infectious diseases.
Fore said electricity output across Gaza has dropped by roughly 60%, leaving hospitals increasingly dependent on generators for the provision of essential healthcare services.
“These generators require significant amounts of fuel to function. Any reduction in healthcare capacity could also jeopardise treatment for those with Covid-19.”
To date, the statement said, at least 60 children have been killed in Gaza and another 444 have been injured in less than 10 days.
Nearly 30,000 children have been displaced and an estimated 250,000 children need mental health and protection services, it added.
At least four health facilities and 40 schools have been damaged. Some 48 schools – most of them run by UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East – are being used as emergency shelters for families seeking refuge from the violence. – Bernama, May 91, 2021
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