Gaza: Europe and the Arabs

While international organizations continue to issue warnings due to the extent of the destruction and suffering and its impact on children in Gaza who suffer from war injuries and various diseases, the Israeli bombing continues and 9 Palestinians were martyred and others were injured, as a result of raids launched by Israeli occupation aircraft and artillery on various areas of the Gaza Strip, as the aggression enters its 308th day

Saleem Owais, the media officer at the UNICEF regional office, said that the extent of the destruction, suffering and displacement in Gaza is beyond imagination, noting that children in Gaza have been severely affected by the destruction of infrastructure and health facilities, and they are suffering from war injuries and various diseases. According to the United Nations daily news bulletin

Owais is visiting the Gaza Strip where he spent more than a week. In an interview with UN News, via Zoom, from Deir al-Balah, Owais touched on the danger of the spread of polio in Gaza, noting that UNICEF and its partners are preparing to launch a campaign this month with the aim of vaccinating thousands of children in Gaza.
Awis said he visited several hospitals in Gaza and met with children and their families suffering from war injuries and various diseases. He also visited a number of camps, saying that boys and girls kept asking him when the war would end so they could return home.

For her part, UNICEF Regional Director Adele Khodr said that any escalation in violence in the Middle East would have dire humanitarian consequences for children, putting their lives and well-being at risk, and would have “long-term implications for the prospects for peace and stability” in the region.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Ms. Khodr called for an immediate de-escalation in order to protect the lives and well-being of children, “because the alternative is unimaginable,” she said.

She stressed that children in many countries in the Middle East are facing a harsher reality today than ever before, as the wave of violence and attacks has spread in recent months, “taking a heavy toll on children’s lives.” “With almost every report of an attack, there are reports of children among the dead. In less than a year, thousands of children have been killed across the State of Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and the occupied Golan Heights,” she added.

The Regional Director noted the many injuries that have left children forever scarred, “and caused untold damage to their mental health,” as well as the loss of many of their homes as a result of displacement while living in “a constant state of uncertainty and fear.”

Ms. Khader reiterated UNICEF’s call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and protect civilians and the vital services they depend on for their survival, in line with their responsibilities under international humanitarian law. “Children have the right to be protected from violence and this must always be upheld,” she said.

She stressed that children in the region desperately need peace and security, “and the opportunity to live in dignity, free from deprivation and fear. This begins with de-escalation, a lasting political solution and the promise of a brighter future.” On the ground, 9 Palestinians were martyred and others were injured, as a result of raids launched by Israeli occupation aircraft and artillery on various areas of the Gaza Strip, as the aggression entered its 308th day.

Local sources reported - according to the Palestinian News Agency "Wafa", today, Friday - that 4 citizens were martyred and others were injured, in an occupation bombing that targeted a house belonging to the Matar family in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip. The bodies were recovered and the wounded were transferred to Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospitals.

The sources explained that the occupation bombing of the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip resulted in the martyrdom of two citizens and the injury of others. The ambulance and rescue teams also recovered the bodies of two martyrs, one of whom was a child, in the town of Abasan, east of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. A young man was martyred by the bullets of the occupation snipers in the town.

They indicated that the occupation aircraft bombed a house east of Jabalia camp, north of the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the injury of 18 citizens, including children. They also launched a raid on the town of Al-Maghraqa, central Gaza Strip, and the occupation artillery bombed the Al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City. Yesterday, Thursday, the occupation aircraft launched a series of raids on the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, coinciding with the issuance of new "evacuation orders" by the occupation army for citizens in several neighborhoods in the city. The Israeli occupation forces have continued their aggression on the Gaza Strip, by land, air and sea, since October 7, 2023, which resulted in the martyrdom of 39,699 citizens, the majority of whom are children and women, and the injury of 91,722 others, in an incomplete toll, as thousands of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and rescue crews cannot reach them.