Geneva:The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Tuesday said that Gaza has become “a graveyard for children” following intensive Israeli bombing that has killed at least 8500 including nearly 3,500 kids.
“Our gravest fears about the reported numbers of children killed becoming dozens, then hundreds, and ultimately thousands were realised in just a fortnight. The numbers are appalling; reportedly more than 3,450 children killed; staggeringly this rises significantly every day,” the organisation said in a statement. “Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. It’s a living hell for everyone else,” UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder said in the statement.
“From the earliest days of the unprecedented hostilities in the Gaza Strip, UNICEF has been forthright on the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, for the aid to flow and for children abducted to be released. Like many others, we have pleaded for the killing of children to stop...And yet the threats to children go beyond bombs and mortars," he said.
Elder said that more than one million children in Gaza also have a water crisis. Gaza’s water production capacity is a mere 5 per cent of its usual daily output. "Child deaths – particularly infants - to dehydration are a growing threat. This is what one of my UNICEF colleagues, Nesma, who lives and works in Gaza said. She has two children, 4yr old Talia, and 7yr old Zain: It breaks my heart to see children around me strive for a cup of clean water and cannot find it. Zain keeps asking for regular water. She means safe drinking water, not salty water which is the only option right now and is making 7yr old Zain and many other children sick," the spokesperson said.