UNICEF: No Safe Place for Children in Gaza

Casal dels Infants – “There is no safe place in Gaza,” said UNICEF spokesperson Rosalia Bollen in an interview with Gulf News Tonight on Monday. She described the region as a graveyard for Palestinian children and a landscape of daily tragedy.

Since the Israeli offensive on Gaza began in October 2023, mass-casualty events involving children have occurred almost daily. According to Bollen, this is not a rare occurrence but rather a grim daily reality.

A Devastating Death Toll

Data from Gaza’s Ministry of Health reports more than 58,000 people killed, with at least 17,000 of them children. The United Nations has confirmed and deemed the figures credible.

“These are not just numbers. These are boys and girls, toddlers and babies,” Bollen stressed.

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Responding to claims that Palestinian casualty figures are unreliable, she strongly rejected the accusations.

“My colleagues and I have been on the ground in Gaza. UNICEF has maintained an operational presence throughout the war,” she said. “We’ve seen wounded children. We’ve encountered children separated from their parents, or worse, whose parents have been killed.”

Injuries That Change Lives Forever

Bollen revealed that many children are suffering from life-altering injuries. One teenage boy, for instance, risks losing his hand due to lack of adequate medical care.

“I’ve personally interviewed dozens of children in Gaza, many severely injured in bombings. Some were lucky to survive, but later couldn’t access the medical treatment they urgently needed due to the overwhelmed healthcare system,” she explained.

She noted that the Israeli offensive has overwhelmed and besieged hospitals in Gaza. On Saturday, seven UN agencies warned that Israel’s fuel restrictions had reached critical levels, threatening humanitarian operations, hospital functionality, and already severe food insecurity.

“Hospitals have effectively turned into warzones. They are facing extreme shortages of medicine, and they receive a constant influx of severely wounded civilians every day,” Bollen said.

“I’ve seen children with amputated limbs. I’ve seen children with severe burns across large parts of their bodies. We’re not talking about a few scrapes. These are injuries they will carry for the rest of their lives.”

Mental Health Crisis Among Gaza’s Children

Beyond the physical harm, Gaza’s children are experiencing a mental health crisis. According to Bollen, nearly one million children now require psychological and emotional support.

“They are trapped in a state of constant fear. Every day they hear the buzz of drones, the roar of aircraft, and the sound of explosions. They know a bomb is coming, they just don’t know where,” she said.

The children she interviewed often spoke about death, their fear of dying, but even more so, their fear of losing their parents.

“The most terrifying thought for many of them is not dying, but being left alone in the world,” Bollen added.

No Pause in the Suffering

Despite global attention, Bollen emphasized that there has been no true reprieve for children in Gaza, apart from one brief ceasefire earlier this year.

“This is not just a humanitarian crisis. It’s a crisis of the future. Because if we fail to protect the children, we destroy the future of the next generation,” she concluded

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