UNICEF Says Children In Gaza Are In Very Bad Condition, Diarrhea Increases 50 Percent

The children sat in the back of the truck as Palestinians departed from northern Gaza to leave the central and southern Gaza Strip on November 10, 2023. (ANTARA/Anadolu)

JAKARTA - Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF, on Friday, January 5, warned that more than 1.1 million children are in serious threat due to increased conflict, malnutrition, and disease in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, reported by ANTARA, Saturday, January 6, Russell expressed his concern, saying that children in Gaza are facing worsening conditions every day.

Russell highlighted the increase in the number of children and families in Gaza who were killed or injured during the conflict. Their living conditions are increasingly at risk of contracting a disease that can actually be prevented, as well as experiencing scarcity of food and water. He stressed the need for protection for all children and civilians from violence, as well as their access to basic services and supplies.

Russell also recorded an increase in cases of diarrhea in children by 50 percent in one week, and about 90 percent of children under the age of two experienced "acute food poverty". UNICEF submitted calls to immediately stop the conflict in order to save civilians and reduce their suffering.

UnICEF seeks to provide life-saving assistance that children in Gaza desperately need. However, we urgently need better and safer access to save children."

The future of thousands of children in Gaza is threatened. The world cannot just be silent and just watch. Violence and suffering of children must be stopped," he said, asserting.

Israel has continued to launch air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip since the cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7.

At least 22,600 Palestinians were killed and 57,910 others injured, according to Gaza health authorities. Meanwhile, nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have died in Hamas attacks.

Israel's intense attacks have caused destruction in Gaza. About 60 percent of the infrastructure there was damaged or destroyed, and nearly two million residents fled amid the food, clean water and medicine crisis.