Japan Committee for UNICEF
“Desolation and despair in Gaza” The situation continues to worsen – Gaza latest situation report [Press release]
UNICEF spokesperson report
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Three-year-old Ahmad was wounded in the leg when his home in the central city of Nuseyrat was bombed. He developed complications and was transferred to Nasser Hospital, but due to insufficient medical supplies, his leg had to be amputated. (Gaza Strip, taken on December 6, 2023) (C) UNICEF_UNI488692_Zaqout
[December 15, 2023, from East Jerusalem]
James Elder, spokesperson for UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), who visited the Gaza Strip, reported on the devastation that war has caused to children and families. Following this report, we will also provide UNICEF’s latest report on the situation in Gaza.
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I recently returned from the Gaza Strip, where I was on duty as a UNICEF spokesperson. The devastating situation facing children in Gaza is beyond any imagination. As a UNICEF staff member for the past 20 years, I have visited one place after another facing humanitarian crises, from famine and flood-stricken areas to war zones and refugee camps. We have never seen the devastation and despair that is happening in Gaza.
The ferocious attacks in Gaza, the large number of children killed, and the desperation and panic of those fleeing, having already lost everything, were palpable. It’s like a humanitarian disaster on top of a humanitarian disaster.
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A girl cries as she evacuates after her home in the southern city of Rafah is hit by an airstrike. (Gaza Strip, taken on December 6, 2023) (C) UNICEF_UNI488859_El Baba
The other day, after a temporary cessation of fighting, we left Rafah, on the border with Egypt, early in the morning. A convoy of UNICEF trucks laden with vital humanitarian aid slowly made its way north, heading north toward Gaza, where aid had not arrived for weeks. Although Rafah and Gaza are only 35 kilometers apart, such travel distances always feel very long in a war zone.
Along the way, we saw buildings and homes destroyed by bombing, creating a dystopian scene for miles.
I got out of my car in Gaza City and took a closer look at the buildings that had been reduced to rubble. There were bloodstains inside, but there was no way of knowing whether the people who had been pulled out of the concrete mass had survived.
I will never forget the man in his 60s who walked out of his bombed-out apartment building. At first I thought he was saying “10.” That means 10 people died. However, he corrected it and used a stick to write “30” on the ground. It’s not the number of people who died. This is the number of his family members and relatives who died in the bombing.
This man lost his whole family, all his relatives, all his loved ones. When the war began, UNICEF described Gaza as “a graveyard for children and a living hell for everyone else.” As bombing and fighting continue, the situation continues to worsen.
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Five-year-old Mohamed runs in front of his bombed-out home. (Gaza Strip, taken on December 7, 2023) (C) UNICEF_UNI488791_Al-Qattaa There was hope that even if fighting resumed, the devastation that had occurred before the temporary hiatus would not be repeated. But their hopes were dashed as they heard hundreds and thousands of shells and more explosions. And within hours, a humanitarian cessation of fighting seemed all too long ago.
Shattered glass, rubble and steel lie beneath the feet of what was once a close-knit community. The walls of the houses were destroyed, their contents exposed like dollhouses. And amidst the gray rubble, eerie remnants of everyday life emerged: a sofa in a wallless third-floor apartment, and a painting on the only wall left standing after the explosion.
One child’s room had a pink blanket, a cupboard, a shelf full of books, and a stuffed animal. It looked like a girl’s room in a normal home anywhere in the world. It was left almost untouched. The owner of this room, a 12-year-old girl, would have survived if she had not been in another room with her family when the house was bombed.
There’s not much time to be lost in thought while driving through Gaza. Convoys loaded with relief supplies must keep moving forward. Along the road, I saw the same problems over and over again in every area. Their basic needs are not being met. People want water and nutritious food. Hospitals need medicine. Trucks carrying goods are loaded with all of them. But not in sufficient quantity. Despite the efforts of UNICEF and other United Nations agencies, the amount of aid being delivered is simply not enough.
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Amir, 5, lives with his family at a shelter in Khan Yunis. He hopes to be able to return to his home in Beit Lahia in the north one day. (Gaza Strip, taken on December 6, 2023) (C) UNICEF_UNI488840_El Baba As one of my UNICEF colleagues pointed out weeks into the war, the killing, maiming, abduction, attacks on hospitals and schools, and denial of humanitarian access to children taint our shared human conscience. It is something to paint. That hasn’t changed then and now.
From Gaza City, we headed further north to Jabaliya. The first thing I noticed were piles of rotting food scraps piled up outside hospitals, offices and schools. Of course, sanitation and garbage collection services are completely dysfunctional. There is no fuel to run the trucks collecting trash, and the conflict has forced most of the workers in these jobs to flee. One of the hospitals we visited, Al Ahly Arab Hospital, was crowded, noisy, and downright chaotic. As UNICEF trucks unloaded and carried medical supplies, injured people were being carried away bleeding.
Eventually, we returned to what we called the Collaborative Activities Center in southern Gaza. It’s where dozens of United Nations staff gather to discuss their next mission. There was a somber atmosphere. We all know what Palestinian families need. They need everything from medicine to water to fuel to food.
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A boy draws water into a tank from the tap at Rafah’s shelter. (Gaza Strip, taken on December 6, 2023) (C) UNICEF_UNI488874_El Baba But the true safety of children in Gaza depends on parties to the conflict ensuring that humanitarian workers can reach civilians everywhere unimpeded. This depends on UNICEF being able to get water, food, nutritional supplements, fuel and other humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip, and on the ability of the parties to the conflict to quickly implement a humanitarian ceasefire. .
Unless these conditions are met, children in Gaza will continue to be at risk of attack from the air, disease on the ground, and death from hunger and thirst. Nowhere is safe.
The children of Gaza have suffered enough. A humanitarian ceasefire and peace is the need of the hour.
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UNICEF Palestine Situation Report No.10
Abstract
Up to 1.9 million people, nearly 85% of Gaza’s population, are displaced. Up to 360,000 cases of infectious diseases have been reported in evacuation centers. Meningitis, jaundice, impetigo, chickenpox, and upper respiratory tract infections have been identified by WHO. UNICEF is providing winter clothing assistance to children to help them stay warm in the cold and rainy weather. UNICEF is the only aid agency procuring children’s winter clothing for children in Gaza. In response to deteriorating living and sanitation conditions, UNICEF is providing fuel to run sewage treatment plants and supporting the treatment and safe disposal of wastewater. This has benefited more than 275,000 people living in Rafah, including 140,250 children. UNICEF provided psychosocial support to 415 people in the Gaza Strip through its helpline.
Together with partners, UNICEF provided recreational activities to 18,350 children and young people in the Gaza Strip, including 11,569 girls and 265 children with disabilities.
Together with partners, UNICEF has provided psychosocial support to 14,994 children and 4,532 caregivers since 7 October.
In recent weeks, 35 UNICEF trucks have entered Gaza, providing water containers for 110,000 people, medical kits for 150,000 people, medical supplies for 30,000 people, hygiene kits for 7,200 people, and hygiene kits for 2,450 people. We brought in therapeutic nutritional food (RUTF) for 2,000 malnourished children, winter clothing for 2,000 children, winter clothing for 7,500 infants, and blankets for 5,000 children.
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[Video 2: UNICEF “Gaza Humanitarian Crisis Emergency Fundraising” Request for cooperation In order to provide support to the children and their families who are most in need of support in Gaza, the Japan Committee for UNICEF is accepting UNICEF’s “Gaza Humanitarian Crisis Emergency Donation”. Please check this out for details.
https://www.unicef.or.jp/kinkyu/gaza/
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■ About UNICEF
UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) is a United Nations agency that works to promote the rights and healthy development of all children. We are currently working with many partners in approximately 190 countries and regions* to translate our philosophy into concrete actions in a variety of ways. We work for all children, everywhere in the world, with a particular focus on supporting those most in need. UNICEF’s activities are funded entirely by donations from individuals, companies, and organizations, as well as voluntary contributions from governments around the world.
*Includes 33 countries and regions where UNICEF National Committees (UNICEF Association) are active
■ About Japan UNICEF Association
The Japan Committee for UNICEF, a public interest incorporated foundation, is one of the UNICEF national committees in 33 developed countries and regions, and is the only private organization in Japan that represents UNICEF. ).