Middle East
UNICEF criticizes “hypocrisy” in the Gaza Strip
Palestinians inspect the damage to a residential building in Rafah after Israeli shelling. photo
© Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
The spokesman for the UN Children’s Fund was in the Gaza Strip and describes the conditions as catastrophic. Four out of five minors do not have enough to eat. It is unconscionable that the world allows this.
Four out of five minors do not have enough food, said Elder in Geneva. Diarrheal illnesses were spreading among the youngest children. Elder said he was angry that injured children were dying and that parents of seriously ill children only had “hope and dirty water.” Israeli forces promised to spare civilians, but the reality is different. “I’m angry that hypocrisy is crushing empathy,” he said.
A 13-year-old girl lost her parents and two brothers in the destruction of the house and survived with her leg amputated, but then died when a grenade hit Nasser Hospital, Elder reported. The girl, Dina, did not let the loss of her family get her down and made plans for the future before the grenade hit. She wanted to become a lawyer.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only eight of what were once 36 hospitals are still functioning properly. The staff can hardly move even in the intensive care units because there are patients everywhere on the floor. Even those in severe pain didn’t ask for painkillers first, but rather for water and food. “It is unconscionable that the world is allowing this to continue,” said spokeswoman Margaret Harris.
Hamas authority: More than 19,600 dead
The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has risen to 19,667 since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. That is 214 more deaths than the day before, as the authority’s spokesman, Ashraf al-Kudra, announced. 52,586 other people were injured.
The authority’s figures cannot currently be verified, but the UN and other observers point out that they have proven to be overall credible in the past.