Gaza's children: "Trapped in a cycle of pain"

NEW YORK (October 18, 2024) - “Gaza is the real-world embodiment of hell on earth for its one million children. And it’s getting worse, day-by-day, as we see the horrific impact of the daily airstrikes and military operations on Palestinian children.

“Let me try and share what that looks like, via one child:  A seven-year-old little girl, Qamar. During an attack on Jabalia camp, Qamar was struck in the foot. The only hospital she could be taken to – a maternity hospital – was then under siege for 20 days, by which time the shrapnel in Qamar’s foot had led to infection. Because she couldn’t be moved, and because the hospital didn’t have the resources to cope with all the trauma cases, doctors had to amputate Qamar’s leg.

“In any vaguely normal situation, this little girl’s leg would never have needed to be amputated. She and her mother and sister – who was also injured – were then forced to evacuate. On foot. A seven-year-old child with a newly amputated leg, was pushed from north to south. They now live in a ripped tent, surrounded by stagnant water and other families enduring similar tragedies. Qamar is of course deeply traumatized – regular sounds of bombings only add to that – and there are no prosthetics in Gaza. As heartbreaking as it is, Qamar’s story is far from unique. And right now, it’s being repeated.  

“It's being repeated not just across families, but over the months and months of this endless conflict. Just over a year since the first orders were given to one million people to leave northern Gaza, hundreds of thousands of civilians are again being given “evacuation” orders to leave the north.

“Indeed, when reflecting on the current situation, the best feeling to describe it is déjà vu – but with even darker shadows. A year ago, the cruel choice for civilians was: endure deprivation or flee into displacement. Today, deprivation grips all of Gaza. Being displaced, again, only leads to more suffering and ever worse conditions for children.  

“Nearly a year ago, we were daily updating the number of trucks being allowed to make the crossing into Gaza. Today, in the north, we are back to the same. Just 80 trucks carrying food or water assistance have been permitted into northern Gaza since 2 October.

“Today the south – where families are to be forced – is desperately overcrowded, and lethally lacks essential water, sanitation and shelter.

“So where would children and their families go? They are not safe in schools and shelters. They are not safe in hospitals. And they are certainly not safe in overcrowded camp sites. 

“Take al-Mawasi, where Palestinians are frequently told to relocate. Al-Mawasi makes up around 3 per cent of Gaza in terms of land mass. It had a population of 9,000 before this war. It now has around 730,000. If al-Mawasi was a city, it would be the most densely populated city on the earth. But al-Mawasi is not a city. It has no high rise buildings, no infrastructure. No capacity to host a population of that size. Most of its land is sand hills.

“This is where Qamar and so many others are forced to live, still deprived of adequate levels of water, medicine, and shelter. Woefully short of mental health support, education, and safety.

“Perhaps the darkest irony in once again forcibly displacing families into these so called ‘humanitarian zones’ is that – beyond their lack of food, water and medicine – they too have been bombed. Al-Mawasi has had multiple mass casualty events. Attacks on schools have become unimaginable in their frequency. Thirty in just the last two weeks, and more than half (16) of these in Jabalia.

“Somehow, in this context, UNICEF has built thousands of toilets, given cash assistance to one million people, and more than 300,000 children have benefitted from our nutrition services, while another 117,000 children below 5 received high energy biscuits and nutrient supplements. 

“UNICEF and our UN colleagues continue to plea for a long-term sustainable ceasefire, now ceasefires – plural – when you talk about the broader region. For the return of the hostages. For the resumption of commercial traffic and the ability to use additional routes for the safe transport of cargo. For unimpeded humanitarian access – and an order of magnitude increase in the quantity of all essential humanitarian assistance survival items – especially food, water, health, education and mental health – and funding for all of our programs, which remain dangerously underfunded. And for the prevention of threats to humanitarian workers, including though mis- and disinformation, which has become rampant throughout this conflict.

“Despite immense efforts from all aid agencies, children continue to suffer unspeakable daily harm. One year after those first forced evacuations, we find the international community watching history repeat. Take another little girl whom I met earlier this month. When the family home was struck, her brother and sister were killed. The little girl sustained devastating injuries to her face—her face was nearly torn off. Surgeons have held the remaining structure together, but she urgently requires a medivac for specialized care. That has been denied. Multiple times. She is just one of the more than 15,000 patients awaiting urgent medical evacuation, each with a similar, tragic story.

“If this level of horror doesn't stir our humanity and drive us to act, then whatever will?

“Again, déjà vu, with darker shadows.

“Last October, UNICEF said, Gaza had become “a graveyard for thousands of children”. This October, on my most recent visit – I saw multiple new makeshift graveyards.

“Last November, UNICEF warned that if children’s access to water and sanitation in Gaza continues to be restricted and insufficient, we will see “a tragic – yet entirely avoidable – surge in the number of children dying. Children face a serious threat of mass disease outbreak.” Today there is polio in Gaza.

“Last December UNICEF stated: “The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child.” And day after day, for more than a year now, that brutal – evidenced based – reality is reinforced.

“And yet, in spite of the statements, the hard data, the inferno of burning tents, the harrowing screams, the scores of conversations I've had with forlorn children missing limbs, the desperate pleas from doctors for medicine, and the denials and delays on aid, action from those responsible has not been taken to reduce the suffering. Indeed, as we see scenes in the north repeating themselves, the situation is deteriorating.

“With each repetition of last year's events, one grim repetition remains – more Gazan children will be killed.”

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Notes for editors:

Multimedia materials available here: https://weshare.unicef.org/Package/2AM4080FDL1J

About UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to pursue a more equitable world for every child. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, safe water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more.

UNICEF USA advances the global mission of UNICEF by rallying the American public to support the world’s most vulnerable children. Together, we are working toward a world that upholds the rights of all children and helps every child thrive. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.

For more information please contact:
Jenna Buraczenski, UNICEF USA, (917) 720-1432, jburaczenski@unicefusa.org