UNICEF/Mohammad Ajjour. In Gaza, a five-year-old boy rescues a kitten from the rubble of his home.
Gaza has become a "graveyard" for children, with thousands of children killed in Israeli bombardments and more than 1 million children facing severe shortages of necessities and lifelong scars, the UN humanitarian team said today.
Conflict casualties at a glance (as of 31 October local time, from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs daily situation report)
Palestinian
• Gaza: 8,525 dead, 21,543 injured, some 1,950 missing
• West Bank: 123 killed, 2,209 injured
● Israel: At least 1,000 deaths
Israelite
• Israel: Some 1,400 killed, 5,431 wounded, and 240 detained
• West Bank: 1 killed, 13 injured
• Gaza: 4 killed, 3 wounded
▌Emergency Relief Coordinator: Listen to the voices of civilians on both sides of the conflict
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, who has been visiting Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory recently, spoke to families in Gaza by phone in East Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Griffiths said what the people of Gaza have endured since Israel began its retaliation for Hamas's deadly October 7 attacks has been "nothing short of devastating."
"It's hard not to feel helpless when an eight-year-old tells you she doesn't want to die," he wrote on the social media platform. ”
On Monday, Griffith met in Jerusalem with some of the families of the more than 230 hostages held in Gaza since Oct. 7. About 30 of the hostages were reported to be children.
Griffith said the families have been living in agony over the past few weeks, not knowing whether their loved ones are dead or alive, and what they are going through is unimaginable.
The United Nations has repeatedly called for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages.
▌UNICEF: Unbearable pain
UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that more than 3,450 children have been killed in Gaza, according to reports from the Gaza health department.
Another 1,000 children are missing, possibly trapped under the rubble awaiting help or dead in the rubble, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said: "The thought of children being buried under the rubble and the chances of rescuing them are so slim is overwhelming. ”
Elder stressed that bombs and mortars are not the only threats facing children in Gaza. With desalination plants damaged or unable to operate due to fuel shortages, Gaza's water production is only 5 per cent of what is needed, and infant mortality from dehydration is a growing threat.
I don't have extra time to think about my children's mental health, I just need to keep them alive.
When the fighting finally stops, he said, the children who survive will suffer terrible trauma for decades to come.
Elder gave the example of a four-year-old daughter of a UNICEF staff member in Gaza who began to self-harm because of daily stress and fear. But as a mother of her children, she told her colleagues: "I don't have extra time to think about my children's mental health, I just need to let them live." ”
Elder said he "represents the 1.1 million children of Gaza living in this nightmare" and reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the opening of all border crossings to allow continued humanitarian access.
"If we cease fire for 72 hours, a thousand children will be safe again during that time," he said. ”
▌OCHA: Current assistance is almost negligible
Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said a total of 26 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies entered Gaza this week through Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza, and hoped more trucks would enter on Tuesday.
Between 21 and 30 October, the total number of trucks allowed to pass through the Rafah crossing reached 143.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stressed that while the increase in the volume of aid entering Gaza over the past two days was welcome, "the current level of assistance is almost negligible in the face of the further intensification of the already dire humanitarian situation and civil unrest". By comparison, before the escalation, nearly 500 commercial and humanitarian trucks entered Gaza every working day, including about 50 trucks delivering fuel.
Griffiths spoke on Monday about the urgency of replenishing fuel supplies. "Fuel, which powers most essential services, including hospitals and desalination plants, is critical to the transportation of humanitarian relief in Gaza," he said. ”
▌OHCHR: Health facilities must be protected at all times
Israeli attacks on health care facilities have exacerbated the public health catastrophe in Gaza. The World Health Organization says 82 such attacks have been recorded in Gaza.
Griffiths expressed concern about reports that the vicinity of two hospitals in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip were bombed for the second day in a row on Monday, "Allegations of attacks on military installations near hospitals and requests by Israeli authorities for evacuation, including Al-Quds Al-Quds Hospital and Al-Shifa Hospital, are worrying," the Office warned OCHA. ”
In response to questions about the allegations, Liz Throssell, a spokesman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, stressed on Tuesday that hospitals are protected buildings under international humanitarian law.
She indicated that, if confirmed, the use of civilians in hospitals as human shields would constitute a war crime. However, Slossel stressed that "whatever action is taken by one side, such as the use of hospitals for military purposes, the other side must comply with international humanitarian rules governing the conduct of hostilities, which require special protection of medical facilities at all times".
Srussel explained that if a medical facility loses its special protection because it is used for purposes other than its humanitarian function to commit harmful acts against the enemy, and if warnings to stop the harmful use of medical facilities are ignored, "any attack must still comply with the principles of prevention and proportionality in attack".
