Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF has called on the international community not to let the children of Gaza down, saying, “The world cannot abandon them.”
She warned that the situation for children in the war-torn enclave “grows bleaker every day.”
In a post on X, Russell also shared a statement from UNICEF that was published earlier this week, which addresses the allegations of several UNRWA staff being involved in the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
“The allegations of involvement of several UNRWA staff in the heinous attacks on Israel on 7 October are horrifying. As the Secretary-General has said, any UN employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable,” she noted.
“However, we must not prevent an entire organization from delivering on its mandate to serve people in desperate need,” she added.
The harrowing events that have been snowballing in Gaza since 7 October have left hundreds of thousands of people homeless and on the brink of famine.
UNRWA, as the largest humanitarian organisation in Gaza, has been providing food, shelter and protection, even as its own staff members were being displaced and killed.
“Decisions by various member states to pause funds from UNRWA will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza. No other entity has the capacity to deliver the scale and breadth of assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need.
“We appeal for these decisions to be reconsidered.”
Catherine Russell
She revealed that UNRWA has announced a full, independent review of the organization, and UN’s Office of internal oversight services has been activated.
Russell asserted that withdrawing funds from UNRWA is perilous and would result in the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, with far-reaching humanitarian and human rights consequences in the occupied Palestinian territory and across the region.
“The world cannot abandon the people of Gaza,” she said.
According to footage posted on social media by Palestinian journalist, Ma’an Abu Taha, Palestinian children are queuing in long lines for food in Gaza.
The children can be seen among crowds of hungry Palestinians waiting for a meal, carrying pots, buckets and various utensils.
The UN says the besieged Strip is facing famine-like conditions with people resorting to using animal feed for food because of Israel’s war destroying Gaza’s food system.
One Million Gaza Children In Need Of Mental Health Support
Moreover, UNICEF stated that about 17,000 children in Gaza are unaccompanied or have been separated from their families during the conflict.
It added that nearly all children in the enclave require mental health support.
Jonathan Crickx, UNICEF’s Chief of communication for the occupied Palestinian territories, disclosed that the children “present symptoms like extremely high levels of persistent anxiety, loss of appetite.”
“They can’t sleep, they have emotional outbursts, or they panic every time they hear a bombing,” he stated.
He also revealed that before the ongoing war, UNICEF was already considering that 500,000 children were already in need of mental health and psychosocial support in Gaza.
“Today, we estimate almost all children are in need of that support, and that’s more than one million children,” he added.
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