UNICEF: 3000 children in Rafah at risk

CAIRO - 12 June 2024: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported on Wednesday that approximately 3,000 children suffering from malnutrition are at risk of death due to being deprived of necessary treatment amid the Israeli attacks on Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

In a statement, UNICEF highlighted a "slight improvement in food aid delivery to northern Gaza, while humanitarian aid access to the south has significantly decreased, putting more children at risk of malnutrition."

The organization emphasized that "the horrific violence and displacement are impacting families' desperate access to healthcare facilities and services."

Adele Khodr, UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, stated, "Harrowing images from Gaza show children dying before their families' eyes due to ongoing shortages of food, nutrition supplies, and the destruction of healthcare services."

Khodr stressed that "unless treatment for 3,000 children resumes quickly, they are at immediate and severe risk of serious illness, life-threatening complications, and joining the growing list of boys and girls killed due to preventable, man-made deprivation."

She added, "The organization’s warnings about the rising child deaths from a preventable mix of malnutrition, dehydration, and diseases should have spurred immediate action to save children’s lives. However, this devastation continues."

Khodr further noted, "With hospitals destroyed, treatments halted, and supplies scarce, we are bracing for further child suffering and deaths."

UNICEF also pointed out that it has more pre-prepared food supplies ready to enter Gaza if access is allowed.

The regional director emphasized the "need for better operational conditions on the ground, including increased safety and fewer restrictions," but affirmed that ultimately, "what children urgently need is a ceasefire."