More than 600 children are trapped in the Gaza Strip with no way out, UNICEF reports.
Fund warns that "children are dying at an alarming rate" in the Gaza Strip. This Sunday (3), at least 15 died from malnutrition and dehydration in the enclave.
, Sputnik At least 15 Palestinian children died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration, this Sunday (3), at Kamal Adwan hospital, in Gaza City.
The information was released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, just hours after the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) drew attention to the impacts of food shortages in the Gaza Strip.
The fund warned that the escalating violence in the enclave is having a catastrophic impact on Palestinian children and families.
"Children are dying at an alarming rate. Thousands have been killed and thousands injured. An estimated 1,7 million people in the Gaza Strip have been internally displaced, half of whom are children," said a UNICEF statement.
"They do not have sufficient access to water, food, fuel and medicine. Their homes have been destroyed; their families torn apart. More than 600 children – half of the displaced population – are trapped in Rafah. There is nowhere safe to go," added the United Nations (UN) agency.
The fund further stated that "even wars have rules," and that no child "should be excluded from essential services, nor left out of reach of humanitarian aid."
"No child should be held hostage or used in any way in armed conflict. Hospitals and schools must be protected from bombing and should not be used for military purposes, in accordance with international humanitarian law. The cost of this violence to children and their communities will be borne by future generations," the statement said.
On Saturday night (2), an Israeli bombing hit civilians in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, near the Emirati hospital.
The escalation of violence has intensified the suffering of the civilian population. It is estimated that since October 7, 2023, when the Hamas group attacked Israel with missiles, killing 1,1 Israelis, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in response, have killed more than 30 Palestinians.
Earlier, a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo to negotiate a ceasefire with mediators in the conflict. However, Israel chose not to negotiate the truce after Hamas refused to provide a list of the names of the Israeli hostages who are still alive.
Furthermore, Hamas did not agree to the terms presented by the United States, one of the ceasefire mediators, which stipulated that Israel release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 40 Israeli hostages held in the enclave. The Palestinian group did not comment on the reason for rejecting the American proposal.