UNICEF reports that children in Gaza are trapped in what the agency calls an endless cycle of suffering. Salim Oweis, a UNICEF Communication Specialist, briefed journalists in Geneva on the dire conditions faced by families.
Among them is Hind, whose daughter Masa, age 4, was bitten by a rat at night. They shelter in a building where sewage water leaks through ceilings and rodents crawl through cracks. Another mother, Amani, cares for daughter Lemar, 7, who has bacterial lesions on her head, back, and legs. Amani cleans the wounds daily with scarce clean water as her daughter screams in agony.
Abdel Aleem and his family have layered sandbags around their tent to ward off rats that simply chew through. He, his eight-month-old son Ahmad, and his pregnant sister-in-law have all been bitten in recent weeks.
Oweis said the common thread is the sheer heartbreak of parents who can no longer protect their children's health and safety. Families across Gaza do not have enough clean water and must choose between drinking, washing, and cooking.
UNICEF is working to reach up to 1.5 million people a month with clean water but faces significant obstacles. Last month, two UNICEF-contracted truck drivers were killed while trying to collect water at a filling station that more than a quarter-million people rely on, now inaccessible. Critical items to repair water systems are not allowed in at needed scale.
Over half of all households report skin diseases. Fleas, lice, and scabies are commonplace, and increasing numbers of children require hospitalization. There is not a single fully functioning hospital across Gaza.
While humanitarian efforts have reversed famine conditions, the number of malnourished children remains extremely serious. Without enough clean water and fuel to cook proper meals, even children who recover with treatment will quickly fall back into the cycle of malnutrition, effects of which can last a lifetime.
Oweis stressed that this situation should be entirely unconscionable to everyone. UNICEF calls for unfettered humanitarian access, lifting restrictions on repair items, and upholding international humanitarian law.