An urgent ceasefire is a matter of life and death for millions in the Gaza Strip, an official warned at a United Nations Security Council emergency briefing, noting climbing child casualties as Israel continues to bombard the enclave.
Palestinians in Gaza are facing a life-or-death crisis aggravated by the struggle to deliver aid to the strip’s more than two million inhabitants, said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), at the meeting on Monday.
More than half a million Palestinians forced from their homes due to Israel’s bombing campaign, continuing for three weeks, are now sheltering in crammed UNRWA schools and buildings, with scarce food and water and often nowhere to sleep, he reported.
On Sunday, Palestinians, desperate due to continued blockade and bombing, broke into UN warehouses, taking wheat, flour, and other basic survival goods.
UN officials also emphasized the skyrocketing casualties in Gaza, particularly among children, a toll unparalleled by even the most bloody contemporary conflicts.
“More than 420 children are being killed or injured in Gaza each day—a number which should shake each of us to our core,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
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