{"id":292347,"date":"2024-01-12T13:40:28","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T18:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=292347"},"modified":"2024-01-16T11:07:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T16:07:31","slug":"children-in-gaza-still-at-the-sharp-end-of-unrelenting-war-unicef-special-representative-lucia-elmi-press-briefing-jan12-2024","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/children-in-gaza-still-at-the-sharp-end-of-unrelenting-war-unicef-special-representative-lucia-elmi-press-briefing-jan12-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Children in Gaza still at the sharp end of unrelenting war – Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF Special Representative, Lucia Elmi – Press briefing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is a summary of what was said by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF Special representative Lucia Elmi on the situation of children in the State of Palestine \u2013 to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva<\/h3>\n

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GENEVA<\/strong>\u2013 \u201cAfter almost 100 days of violence, killing, bombardment and captivity for children in Gaza, all the suffering has been too much.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith every passing day, children and families in the Gaza Strip face increased risk of death from the sky, disease from lack of safe water, and deprivation from lack of food. And for the two remaining Israeli children still held hostage in Gaza, their nightmare that began on 7 October continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the situation continues to deteriorate rapidly. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF last week spoke of the \u2018triple threat\u2019 stalking children in the Gaza Strip: conflict, disease, and malnutrition. We are doing everything we can, but we are faced with a formidable challenge to address these issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren in Gaza are running out of time, while most of the lifesaving humanitarian aid they desperately need remains stranded between insufficient access corridors and protracted layers of inspections. Mounting needs and a constrained response is a formula for a disaster of epic proportions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThousands of children have already died and thousands more will quickly follow if we don\u2019t immediately fix three urgent bottlenecks:<\/p>\n

\u201cOne, safety: Nowhere is safe in the Gaza Strip. The intense bombardment and ongoing conflict in densely populated urban areas threatens the lives of civilians and humanitarian aid workers.<\/p>\n

“The bombardment is also impeding the delivery of desperately needed assistance. When I was in Gaza last week, we tried for 6 days to get fuel and medical supplies to the North and for 6 days movement restrictions prevented us from travelling. My colleagues in Gaza endured this same challenge for weeks before my arrival. Families in the north desperately need this fuel to operate water and sanitation infrastructure. They are still waiting.<\/p>\n

“Two, logistics: We still aren\u2019t getting sufficient aid in \u2013 yesterday just 139 (73 via Rafah and 66 via KS) trucks entered. The inspection process remains slow and unpredictable. And some of the materials we desperately need remain restricted, with no clear justification. These include generators to power water facilities and hospitals, and plastic pipes to repair badly damaged water infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, once aid gets in, there are significant challenges to distributing it across the Gaza Strip, particularly to the North and recently also the middle area.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrequent communications blackouts make it extremely challenging to coordinate the distribution of aid, and let people know how to access it, and when.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe congestion in the south due to the massive displacement and the intense needs mean continued incidents of people in despair stopping trucks and trying to get their hands on whatever they can.<\/p>\n

\u201cShortages of fuel and trucks inside the Strip, and major damage to roads, make travel slower and less frequent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree, commercial: Humanitarian aid alone is not sufficient. The volume of commercial goods for sale in the Gaza Strip needs to increase, and increase fast. What is needed is at least 300 trucks of private commercial goods going in on a daily basis. This will help people purchase essential goods, relieve community tension, and stimulate the cash assistance programs offered by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF and others.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we are seeing very little change, and frankly, the consequences are being measured, daily, in the loss of children\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn immediate and long-lasting ceasefire is the only way to end the killing and injuring of children and their families and enable the urgent delivery of desperately needed aid. But while we continue advocating and pushing for that to happen, we urgently need:<\/p>\n