Pressing Baby Death Rate, UNICEF Urges Ceasefire In Gaza

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JAKARTA - The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has again urged a ceasefire in Gaza to prevent more infants from dying from the cold amid Israeli genocide for more than a year that has killed thousands of Palestinian children.

On platform X on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, UNICEF announced that seven babies died of cold in the Gaza Strip in recent days.

Quoted from ANTARA, Wednesday, January 1, UNICEF has sent winter clothes and blankets to Palestinian families, their needs are enormous.

This is because most of the displaced Gazans do not yet have proper shelter and other basic needs during extreme cold weather.

UNICEF's insistence comes as a number of areas in Gaza have been hit by flooding in recent days, adding to misery for those who already live in inhumane conditions.

A number of reports have reported that the flood has submerged dozens of refugee tents in Deir al Balah City, al-Mawasi, and Khan Younis.

Previously, UNICEF announced that 2024 would be the worst year for children when about 473 million children live in war zones around the world, including Gaza. That figure is equivalent to one in six children in the world.

"From almost all benchmarks, 2024 is one of the worst years in UNICEF's history for children trapped in conflict zones, both in terms of the number of children affected and their impact on their lives," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

A number of media reported that more than 17,000 children died during the 15 months of the genocide war launched by the Israeli Zionist regime in Gaza.

Al Jazeera news agency citing UNICEF spokesman Rosalia Bolen reported that 96 percent of women and children in Gaza were unable to meet their basic food needs.

Children also contracted disease and lack of clothes for winter.