Latest news with #UNICEF
Al Arabiya
23 minutes ago
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Gaza faces a man-made drought as water systems collapse: UNICEF
Gaza is facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapse, the United Nations' children agency said on Friday. 'Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40 percent of drinking water production facilities remain functional,' UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva. 'We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water for people in Gaza,' he added. UNICEF also reported a 50 percent increase in children aged six months to 5 years admitted for treatment of malnutrition from April to May in Gaza, and half a million people going hungry. It said the US-backed aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was 'making a desperate situation worse.' On Friday at least 25 people awaiting aid trucks or seeking aid were killed by Israeli fire south of Netzarim in central Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities. On Thursday at least 51 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the GHF in the central Gaza Strip. Elder, who was recently in Gaza, said he had many testimonials of women and children injured while trying to receive food aid, including a young boy who was wounded by a tank shell and later died of his injuries. He said a lack of public clarity on when the sites, some of which are in combat zones, were open was causing mass casualty events. 'There have been instances where information (was) shared that a site is open, but then it's communicated on social media that they're closed, but that information was shared when Gaza's internet was down and people had no access to it,' he said. On Wednesday, the GHF said in a statement it had distributed three million meals across three of its aid sites without an incident. On Friday at least 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a house belonging to the Ayyash family in Deir Al-Balah, taking the day's death toll to 37.
Zawya
27 minutes ago
- Health
- Zawya
Gaza faces a man-made drought as water systems collapse, UNICEF says
Gaza is facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapse, the United Nations' children agency said on Friday. "Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40% of drinking water production facilities remain functional," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva. "We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water for people in Gaza," he added. UNICEF also reported a 50% increase in children aged six months to 5 years admitted for treatment of malnutrition from April to May in Gaza, and half a million people going hungry. It said the U.S.-backed aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was "making a desperate situation worse." On Friday at least 25 people awaiting aid trucks or seeking aid were killed by Israeli fire south of Netzarim in central Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities. On Thursday at least 51 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the GHF in the central Gaza Strip. Elder, who was recently in Gaza, said he had many testimonials of women and children injured while trying to receive food aid, including a young boy who was wounded by a tank shell and later died of his injuries. He said a lack of public clarity on when the sites, some of which are in combat zones, were open was causing mass casualty events. "There have been instances where information (was) shared that a site is open, but then it's communicated on social media that they're closed, but that information was shared when Gaza's internet was down and people had no access to it," he said. On Wednesday, the GHF said in a statement it had distributed three million meals across three of its aid sites without an incident. On Friday at least 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a house belonging to the Ayyash family in Deir Al-Balah, taking the day's death toll to 37.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Health
- Arab News
Gaza faces a manmade drought as water systems collapse, UNICEF says
GENEVA: Gaza is facing a manmade drought as its water systems collapse, the United Nations' children agency said on Friday. 'Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40 percent of drinking water production facilities remain functional,' UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva. Israel is now channelling much of the aid into Gaza through a new US – and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which uses private US security and logistics firms and operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces. Israel has said it will continue to allow aid into Gaza, home to more than 2 million people, while ensuring it doesn't get to Hamas. Hamas denies seizing aid, saying Israel uses hunger as a weapon. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, called the current system for distributing aid 'a disgrace & a stain on our collective consciousness,' in a post on X on Wednesday. Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, displaced almost all the territory's residents, and caused a severe hunger crisis. The World Food Programme called on Wednesday for a big increase in food distribution in Gaza, saying that the 9,000 metric tons it had dispatched over the last four weeks inside Gaza represented a 'tiny fraction' of what was needed. 'The fear of starvation and desperate need for food is causing large crowds to gather along well-known transport routes, hoping to intercept and access humanitarian supplies while in transit,' the WFP said in a statement. 'Any violence resulting in starving people being killed or injured while seeking life-saving assistance is completely unacceptable,' it added. Palestinians in Gaza have been closely following Israel's air war with Iran, long a major supporter of Hamas. 'We are maybe happy to see Israel suffer from Iranian rockets, but at the end of the day, one more day in this war costs the lives of tens of innocent people,' said 47-year-old Shaban Abed, a father of five from northern Gaza. 'We just hope that a comprehensive solution could be reached to end the war in Gaza, too. We are being forgotten.'
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Climate
- Reuters
Gaza faces a man-made drought as water systems collapse, UNICEF says
GENEVA, June 20 (Reuters) - Gaza is facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapse, the United Nations' children agency said on Friday. "Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40% of drinking water production facilities remain functional," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.
NHK
14 hours ago
- Health
- NHK
UNICEF: 50,000 children in Gaza have died or been injured since Oct. 2023
A senior official of the United Nations Children's Fund says 50,000 children in the Gaza Strip have died or been injured since fighting between Israel and Hamas erupted in October 2023. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Kitty van der Heijden made the comment in an exclusive interview with NHK in Tokyo on Thursday. She noted that there is increasing malnutrition in Gaza and a medical care system on the verge of collapse. Van der Heijden said personnel of UN-led aid delivery programs have been ''unable to reach children that need us'' since Israel imposed a complete blockade in March. She called on all parties to the conflict to stop the violence and allow UN staff to resume aid deliveries in Gaza "so that children finally can find a little bit of hope." Van der Heijden described the current global situation as ''the worst time to be a child.'' She said one in every six children in the world ''is either living in conflict or running away" from it, which is unprecedented in the history of UNICEF. Regarding the conflict between Israel and Iran, van der Heijden said children on both sides have died and suffered injuries. She added that UNICEF, along with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, is calling on the two countries to exercise the maximum restraint.
