Gaza Strip: UNICEF Calls for Ceasefire and More Aid to Enter
Gazans Farewelling the vicims of the Israeli Genocide, Jult 2024 Photo: @publico_es
July 25, 2024 Hour: 8:27 pm
With sanitation and sewage treatment services collapsing, the polio virus is joining the list of threats, especially for the thousands of infants who have not yet been vaccinated.
UNICEF called on Israel to allow unimpeded entry of aid into the Gaza Strip and an immediate ceasefire to address the severe humanitarian crisis affecting the territory, according to a statement issued here today.
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The conditions for a robust humanitarian response are not in place in the area, said UNICEF Executive Director Christine Russell in a statement.
“Aid needs to flow unimpeded, consistently accessible and safe,” she said.
She noted that every day families there face new horrors, including attacks on refugee-filled schools that have killed hundreds of Palestinians.
“We have seen children who were injured in attacks re-injured. Under-resourced doctors and nurses struggling to save lives. Thousands of children sick, hungry, injured or separated from their families,” Russell denounced.
Furthermore, she also warned that violence and deprivation are leaving permanent scars on the vulnerable bodies and minds of children.
And now, with sanitation and sewage treatment services collapsing, the polio virus is joining the list of threats, especially for the thousands of infants who have not yet been vaccinated.
As families are forced to move repeatedly to escape the immediate violence, the humanitarian situation becomes increasingly catastrophic,” Russell said.
Russell also stated that humanitarian agencies, including UNICEF, are doing all we can to respond to the crisis, but the dire situation and the shelling of staff is hampering our efforts.
In this regard, she criticized the Israeli firing two days ago on UNICEF vehicles waiting at a designated
vehicles waiting at a designated holding point near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint.
“The problem is even more serious because of the working conditions on the ground because at least 278 humanitarian workers have been killed in the Strip, an unprecedented number,” she said.
We need an immediate and durable ceasefire; therefore, we call on all parties to this conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, he said.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: DW-UNICEF
