The United Nations children’s agency has warned that the children trapped in the Gaza Strip are chronically underfed and extremely traumatized due to the Israeli regime’s months-long genocidal war on the besieged Palestinian territory.
In a recent interview, UNICEF spokesperson, Tess Ingram raised the alarm over the deteriorating situation for the Palestinian children, saying that the children are bearing the brunt of Gaza’s humanitarian crisis as they suffer from months of hunger, trauma, and displacement.
She pointed to a recent UNICEF survey finding that 90 percent of children under the age of two in Gaza only have access to two main food groups – grains and dairy – compared to the five food groups that are required for a healthy diet.
“We are very alarmed about the amount of nutrients that young children are getting for their growth and development”, she said in the interview.
She noted that the children’s mental health was also at risk, saying the war’s long-term mental issues are equally concerning.
“We’re seeing traumatic stress responses in so many children we engage with. In other conflicts, children may experience trauma, but they have the ability to go to safety. That hasn’t been happening in Gaza,” she said.
“Until the fighting stops and children can feel safe, we cannot really begin to assess and respond to their long-term mental health needs,” she warned.
Earlier, UNICEF’s Executive Director had warned that children and pregnant women in Gaza did not have access to basic nutrition needs.
“Children in Gaza are caught in a nightmare that worsens with every passing day,” Catherine Russell, said in a recent statement.
“Children and families in the Gaza Strip continue to be killed and injured in the war, and their lives are increasingly at risk from preventable diseases and lack of food and water. All children and civilians must be protected from violence and have access to basic services and supplies,” she added.
In the meantime, the disease is spreading at an alarming rate across Gaza. Reports said cases of diarrhea in children under five years of age rose from 48,000 to 71,000 in just one week starting 17 December, equivalent to 3,200 new cases of diarrhea per day.
Prior to the Israeli genocidal war on the besieged territory, an average of 2,000 cases of diarrhea in children aged under five years were recorded per month in Gaza. This recent climb represents a staggering increase of about 2000 percent, the statement pointed out.
A UNICEF survey conducted in late December found most families in Gaza in “severe food poverty”. Pregnant and breastfeeding women were also severely compromised with 25 percent of them only consuming one of the five food groups on Dec. 25, and almost 65 percent only two.
Over the past months, the Gaza Strip has borne witness to over 22,700 deaths killed by the Israeli war machine with many more injured and still more missing under the rubble as the Zionists cut off water, food, fuel, and electricity to the region.
Most of the Palestinian causalities have been women and children, while most of the children have been exposed to deeply distressing events and trauma, marked by widespread destruction, relentless attacks, displacement, and severe shortages of essential necessities such as food, water, and medicine.
“The killing and maiming of children, abduction of children, attacks on hospitals and schools, and the denial of humanitarian access constitute grave violations of children’s rights,” Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa said in a statement previously.
“Even wars have rules. Civilians must be protected – children particularly – and all efforts must be made to spare them in all circumstances,” Khodr added.
“The situation in the Gaza Strip is a growing stain on our collective conscience. The rate of death and injuries of children simply staggering,” Khodr warned, adding that “even more frightening is the fact that unless tensions are eased, and unless humanitarian aid is allowed, including food, water, medical supplies, and fuel, the daily death toll will continue to rise.”
A high-ranking United Nations official has strongly despised the situation in the Gaza Strip where Palestinians have suffered three months of unrelenting attacks in a genocidal Israeli war. The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergencies described the situation in Gaza as “death and despair”.
“Gaza has become a place of death and despair,” Martin Griffiths said in a statement on Friday.
“Tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children, have been killed or injured,” he stated, adding, “Areas where civilians were told to relocate for their safety have come under bombardment.”
