On Wednesday, #UNICEF had a mission to drive a truck full of nutritional and medical supplies for 10,000 children. Their task was to deliver the aid, which was preapproved by Israeli authorities, from Deir el-Balah to Gaza City, a 40km (25 miles) round trip.
It took 13 hours and we spent eight of those around checkpoints, arguing around paperwork – was it a truck or a van. This truck was denied access.
I spent time with people who had what in Iran we used to call "shell shock", adult soldiers who had nerve and internal injuries because of explosions close to them, not to mention the psychological impact of living through such nightmare. Can't imagine how it is for children, as young as 4 years old to have lived through such horror, plus the loss of the parents, siblings and in a lot of times, the entire family.
War is hell, for everyone, specially civilians, but for innocent children who are caught in the middle of something they had no role in creating or ability to change is so much worse. Reading some of the comments on FB page of UNICEF on this post made me really sick.
I understand people having strong feeling about people in other countries, even other religions and race (even thought I hate it), but making fun of suffering of children, no matter who they are is just something I do not understand. One must be really evil to think that suffering of an innocent 4 year old is anything but tragic and unacceptable. But, sadly, we are in the new world of post 9/11, trumpism and post october 7, inhumanity and hate is no longer hidden or condemned, it is openly said and shared with pride and lots of likes and support from similar people who lack humanity and empathy.
Meanwhile things continue to get worse and worse in #Gaza
Water is in desperately short supply, not just for drinking but sanitation. In Rafah there is approximately one toilet for every 850 people. The situation is four times worse for showers. That is, around one shower for every 3,500 people.
A military offensive in Rafah will be catastrophic because it is a city of children – some 600,000 of them.
furchtbar, unmenschlich - #Genozid mit Absicht. Im heutigen #taz - "Kinder im #Gazastreifen - Lernen in Trümmern - #Israel zerstöre das palästinensische Bildungswesen systematisch, mahnen UN-Vertreter. Lehrkräfte in #Gaza unterrichten derweil unter freiem Himmel ... Seit mehr als sechs Monaten haben die 625.000 Schulkinder in Gaza keine Schule mehr besucht. „Es gibt im Moment absolut keine Form von Ausbildung und Schule im Gazastreifen“, sagt Jonathan Crick, Sprecher des Kinderhilfswerks #Unicef in Jerusalem. UN-Experten prangern inzwischen eine „systematische Vernichtung des Bildungswesens“ in Gaza an, wie es in einer im April veröffentlichten Erklärung heißt."
Israel just can't stop targeting aid workers. Incredible! Then they scream that aid is there but not being delivered. Who would want to risk being blown up?
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell says 13,000 children has been killed and countless others injured during intense Israeli attacks on the enclave.
“Homes, schools and hospitals in ruin. Teachers, doctors and humanitarians killed. Famine is imminent. The level and speed of destruction are shocking. Children need a ceasefire NOW,” Russell wrote on X.
"My view on #Gaza: it is not just a humanitarian crisis; it is a moral one. It is a test for our humanity & ability to save the children’s lives. The action or lack of it, will have a consequence on the future & history will judge our collective actions."
Adele Khodr
UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East
“The sense of helplessness and despair among parents and doctors in realising that lifesaving aid, just a few kilometres away, is being kept out of reach, must be as unbearable, but worse still are the anguished cries of those babies slowly perishing under the world’s gaze. The lives of thousands more babies and children depend on urgent action being taken now.”
Catherine Russell: "A humanitarian ceasefire will save lives. It will allow for the expansion of the humanitarian response, and help provide the best protection for children whose lives and futures are hanging in the balance.”
#UNICEF / 17,000 children in Gaza were unaccompanied or have been separated from their families, nearly all children thought to require mental health support
"Before this war, UNICEF was considering already that 500,000 children were already in need of mental health and psychosocial support in Gaza. Today, we estimate that almost all children are in need of that support, and that's more than 1 million children."
"The United Nations children’s fund says there is a “dire situation” in several eastern and southern African countries, where at least 45 million children are dealing with severe #FoodInsecurity made worse by #ClimateChange."