Since the ceasefire alone, more than 100 deaths have been reported
In an interview with CNN Portugal, the spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund says that the vast majority of children go to school without the minimum conditions necessary to survive, on a day in which UNICEF warned of the death of 100 children since the beginning of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas Islamists.
James Elder warns that Palestinians continue to lack access to essential humanitarian aid and that they have to rebuild basic infrastructure without support, which must come from outside.
The conversation with Elder took place more than three months after a precarious agreement for a ceasefire, which has not prevented fighting on the ground and which has led both parties to accuse each other of violating the terms of the agreement.
The clashes have led, according to humanitarian organizations on the ground, to the continued destruction of civilian infrastructure, including schools, as well as the loss of human life.
“More than 100 children have died since the ceasefire began,” Elder told CNN Portugal. And he recalled that this represents one child killed per day in the last three months.
UNICEF wants schooled children to live without risk
James Elder warns of the need for help from those who suffer most.
“Imagine what a typical day would be like for a child. What a typical day would be like for a boy or a girl in Gaza during the ceasefire. Well, they should sleep safely, they should wake up with a hot drink and breakfast. That would be the minimum,” the UNICEF spokesperson told CNN Portugal.
CNN also wanted to know how children are doing during these winter days in the Palestinian Territory. Elder said “it’s freezing cold.”
“I’ve been outside watching the tents being blown away by the wind. The children are cold and can’t keep warm. Their immune systems have been weakened by the two and a half years of this situation.”
Still, the UNICEF spokesperson says the UN organization is doing its best to improve the conditions of the displaced:
“At the same time, we are going to make things change. We have 70 new food stations and children are returning to the classrooms.”
