Children endure dire existence in Gaza

By Nathan Morley

Northern Gaza is virtually cut off from civilization. Its people, estimated to number 300,000, have been reduced to a dire existence.

In the south, over a million people are jammed into every available space in and around Rafah.

Though more than 13,000 trucks transporting over 250,000 tons of humanitarian aid have entered the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, supplies of food, medicine, and other essentials remain low.

Over the course of this conflict, thousands of children have been injured and killed. Aid agencies report children reporting to hospitals with burns, open wounds, and other serious injuries. And through it all, children remain cut off from psychosocial care.

Diseases rising in children

In a recent bulletin, UNICEF reported cases of diarrhoea among toddlers are soaring, while cases of scabies, lice, chicken pox, skin rashes, and respiratory infections are also climbing among children.

Compounding matters, a steep rise in malnutrition among children and pregnant and breastfeeding women in the Gaza strip poses grave threats to their health, according to a comprehensive new analysis released by the Global Nutrition Cluster.

In a separate development, the Israeli war cabinet has been briefed on ceasefire negotiations in Paris which have reportedly led to an outline agreement on a pause in the Gaza fighting and on hostage releases.