UNICEF Says 13 Thousand Children Killed In Gaza Strip Due To Israeli Attacks

Palestinian refugee camps in southern Gaza. (UNRWA/Ashraf Amra)

JAKARTA - The UN children's agency said on Sunday, more than 13,000 children died in Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks, many of the children were suffering from severe malnutrition, so they "did not have the power to cry."

"Other siblings are injured or we can't even confirm where they are. They may be trapped under the rubble. We've never seen such a death rate of children in almost all other conflicts in the world," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell told CBS News' "Face the Nation" program on Sunday., quoted from Reuters March 18.

"I was once in a children's ward with severe malnutrition, the entire ward was completely deserted. Because children, babies, don't even have the energy to cry," he said.

Russell also said there were "very big bureaucratic challenges" in sending trucks to Gaza to provide assistance and assistance.

Meanwhile, one in three children under 2 years of age in northern Gaza is now experiencing acute malnutrition, opening new tabs and hunger is imminent, the main UN agency operating in the Palestinian enclave (UNRWA) said on Saturday.

International criticism has increased against Israel because of the large number of casualties in the war, the crisis of hunger in Gaza and allegations of obstructing aid deliveries to the region.

A UN expert said earlier this month Israel destroyed Gaza's food system as part of a broader "hung campaign". Israel rejects the allegations.

Israel's military attack on Hamas-controlled Gaza has displaced nearly its entire population of 2.3 million people, caused a hunger crisis, razed most of the enclave, and killed more than 31,000 residents according to Gaza's health ministry.

This also led to allegations of genocide being investigated at the International Court. Israel denies the allegations, saying it acted to defend itself after the October 7 attack by the Hamas militant group that killed about 1,200 people according to Israeli calculations and held two hundred others hostage.