UNICEF says Israeli forces killed four children in five days in Gaza

The United Nations children’s organization has said Israeli forces killed at least four children in five days in the Gaza Strip.

UNICEF reported on Friday that the children were aged between 2 and 16 and were killed in separate strikes, including one who died from wounds sustained last week.

“At least four children have been reported killed and many others injured in the Gaza Strip over the past five days, while attacks have also destroyed a warehouse containing nutrition supplies and severely damaged a UNICEF-supported water facility, further undermining access to the essential services that children and families rely on,” it said on its website.

“The children reported killed include two boys, aged two and four years, in separate strikes, a 10-year-old girl hit by ground fire while inside her tent, and a 16-year-old boy who died from serious injuries sustained in a previous strike,” it added.

It also said that on 25 August, three children aged eight, ten and seventeen were reported hit by live ammunition fire and two 11-year-olds by shrapnel following strikes, suffering “life-changing injuries.”

UNICEF said five other children aged 8 to 17 were hit by live fire or shrapnel on Tuesday, suffering serious injuries based on a statement by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

It added that a UNICEF partner’s warehouse was also heavily damaged by a strike, destroying more than $770,000 worth of nutrition supplies intended to support more than 45,000 children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill three Palestinians, including 4-year-old

Three Palestinians, including a child, are killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, civil defense rescuers say.

On Monday, a UNICEF-supported water well and desalination facility serving more than 4,000 people in Deir al-Balah was severely damaged.
UNICEF partners are now trucking water from alternative sources to the hapless Palestinians.

“Children are being killed and injured, while those who survive are seeing essential services and supplies that they depend on destroyed,” said UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder.

“Beyond the loss of life, the destruction of vital supplies and damage to essential services continue to deepen the suffering of children and families already struggling to survive.”

Gaining access to safe and sufficient water is of utmost importance for maintaining children’s health and wellbeing, especially during the hot summer months.
Currently, with 70 percent of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure destroyed in Israeli strikes, 63 percent of people are unable to access enough potable water needed to survive.

The United Nations children’s organization called for full respect for international humanitarian and human rights law, including the protection of children’s lives and rights, for civilian infrastructure and essential services critical to children’s survival and wellbeing to be safeguarded, and for rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access.

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