UNICEF: Gaza's Children Bear Heaviest Toll in Two-Year Conflict

The United Nations Children's Fund has issued a stark warning about the devastating impact of the Gaza conflict on children, marking two years since the hostilities began. UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires described an "unprecedented" crisis where children have borne the heaviest burden, facing killing, maiming, and severe trauma.

During a UN briefing in Geneva, Pires revealed that "an average of one child is either killed or maimed every 17 minutes" in Gaza, calling the statistic "unacceptable and staggering." He emphasized that children have endured repeated displacement, been orphaned, and witnessed "horrors that no child should ever have to look at or live."

The agency raised alarms about the blocking of critical medical equipment, including incubators and ventilators for premature babies, with one in five infants in Gaza now born prematurely. Pires reported that over 10,000 children have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition in the past two months alone, with approximately 2,400 children in Gaza City currently receiving treatment for severe acute malnutrition that could prove fatal without continuous care.

While acknowledging US peace efforts, including the 20-point proposal that Hamas has agreed to in principle, Pires stressed that bombardments continue across Gaza. He implored that "the disproportionate response that followed October, 2023, which today continues, needs to end, and it needs to end now," urging immediate humanitarian access to prevent further child casualties and address the growing health crisis.