UNITED NATIONS, Nov 22 (APP): The United Nations has warned that a \u201ctragic \u2026 entirely avoidable surge\u201d in child deaths is expected in ravaged Gaza, where on average a child is killed every 10 minutes from Israel\u2019s devastating attacks. \u201cAbout 160 children are killed every day; that\u2019s one every 10 minutes,\u201d said World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, he said that \u201cevery 10 minutes, two children are injured\u201d and that children and families have been dying \u201cin terrifying circumstances\u201d. The UN Children\u2019s Agency (Unicef) warned that the number could skyrocket due to the serious additional threat of a mass disease outbreak in the besieged Palestinian territory. <\/p>\n
The UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said: If youngsters continue to have restricted access to water and sanitation in Gaza, we will see a tragic yet entirely avoidable surge in the number of children dying. \u201cThe death toll among children is sickening,\u201d he said, noting that more than 5,350 Palestinian children had reportedly been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.<\/p>\n
Grief is becoming embedded in Gaza. So this then is a stark warning: without sufficient fuel, and sufficient water, conditions for children will plummet. He said the daily minimum need in emergency situations was 15 litres of water per person, but that in parts of Gaza as little as three litres a day is available, and none on some days. Pointing to \u201ca desperate lack of water, faecal matter strewn across densely populated settlements [and] an unacceptable lack of latrines\u201d, Elder said it was a \u201cperfect storm for the spread of disease\u201d. According to the WHO, around 180 babies are born every day in the war-shattered enclave.<\/p>\n
More than 20 of them need specialized care, just like the infants from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, where 31 premature and low-birthweight babies in intensive care were evacuated over the weekend. The original number of infants was 33 but two died \u201cbecause of the lack of care available to them,\u201d Lindmeier said. Highlighting the dire situation all over Gaza where \u201cless than half\u201d of the enclave\u2019s hospitals and clinics now function \u201cin any capacity\u201d, the WHO official said that plans were continuing to evacuate the remaining 200 patients and 50 health workers from Al-Shifa hospital, as a desperate, last resort.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen these people \u2013 the doctors, the nurses, the patients \u2013 are asking to be evacuated, that\u2019s really the last resort,\u201d he said, adding that it meant \u201cthat the situation on the ground has grown so dire that the only other alternative is facing what they think certain death\u201d. The WHO spokesperson explained that such evacuations were extremely complicated and dangerous, requiring coordination with Israeli Defense Forces and with Hamas \u201cto get to a safer place inside Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n
The evacuation teams will \u201cneed time, they need preparation, they need specialized equipment, they need safe passage\u201d, Lindmeier said. According to the UN health agency, Gaza is now home to thousands of injured and critically ill people. There has been a sharp increase in diseases such as diarrhoea, and respiratory infections, along with \u201calmost no water, fuel, food, electricity, or medical supplies\u201d. Some 72,000 cases of upper respiratory infections have been reported in displacement shelters with close to 49,000 cases of diarrhoea and over half of these among children under age five, it was pointed out.]. This compares with a pre-war monthly average of 2,000 cases in 2021, 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 22 (APP): The United Nations has warned that a \u201ctragic \u2026 entirely avoidable surge\u201d in child deaths is expected in ravaged Gaza, where on average a child is killed every 10 minutes from Israel\u2019s devastating attacks. \u201cAbout 160 children are killed every […]<\/p>\n
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