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UNICEF to Sputnik: Hostilities Have Catastrophic Impact on Gaza Children

Over 4,600 children have reportedly been killed and over 8,600 injured, with more than 1,500 reported missing and presumed to be under rubble, UNICEF’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Office told Sputnik.
Sputnik
UNICEF stated that the escalation of hostilities is having a catastrophic impact on children and families, while providing the new number of casualties in the enclave.

"Over 1.5 million people are displaced, an estimated half of whom are children, many of whom are now living in densely populated shelters with little access to safe water, food and sanitation. The shocking reality for every child inside the Gaza Strip," the office told Sputnik.

In turn, Ammar Ammar, regional chief of advocacy and communication of UNICEF's Middle East and North Africa Regional Office told Sputnik that the organization does not have a list of children killed in the Gaza Strip, as only the Gazan Ministry of Health has it.
As Gazans have no access to clean water, which poses a lethal threat to children, the UNICEF representative added:

"Safe water is running out in the Gaza Strip, posing particularly lethal risks for children. The majority of water systems have been heavily impacted or are non-operational, due to lack of fuel, insecurity, and damage to infrastructure. People are being forced to use dirty water from wells, seawater and other unsafe sources, drastically increasing risks for diarrheal disease, posing a great risk especially to children under five."

The current hostilities have already impacted the psychological well-being of Gaza's children, and as the UNICEF Office stressed, this "will be further impacted the longer the escalation of hostilities continues."
UNICEF and its partners are providing "much needed lifesaving aid into the Gaza Strip" through the Rafah border crossing, including water, water treatment materials, health equipment and medicines, hygiene kits, and humanitarian cash assistance.
However, the organization pointed out that this aid "is just a drop in an ocean of the immense and urgent needs of children and families in Gaza." UNICEF reiterated that its staff continues to respond to the critical needs of children across the Gaza Strip, but access is becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous.

"More than 100 UN staff members have been killed. UNICEF calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and unimpeded, continuous access of humanitarian aid, including water, food, medical supplies, and fuel. We also call for guaranteed safety for the aid supplies and the humanitarian worker to be able to reach every child wherever they are in the Gaza strip," the regional office summed up.

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