The United Nations children’s agency says its top official visited the Gaza Strip early Wednesday and met with children and their families in the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, in the south of the territory. “What I saw and heard was devastating. They have endured repeated bombardment, loss and displacement,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. “Inside the Strip, there is nowhere safe for Gaza’s one million children to turn.”
Quick Read
- UNICEF Executive Director’s Visit to Gaza: Catherine Russell, the Executive Director of UNICEF, visited Gaza Strip and witnessed the devastating impact of the conflict on children and families. She emphasized the urgent need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and unrestricted aid access, highlighting the dire conditions in Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.
- UNRWA’s Fuel Receipt and Request for More: The UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, received 23,000 liters of fuel, which is insufficient for its basic humanitarian operations. UNRWA requires 160,000 liters of fuel daily to function effectively, highlighting the urgent need for more fuel to sustain medical and water facilities and other critical operations.
- Gaza’s Communications Blackout Risk: Paltel, the main Palestinian communications company, warned of an imminent communications blackout in Gaza due to fuel shortages. The company’s generators have shut down, and the remaining communications are reliant on batteries, indicating a critical situation for maintaining essential communication services.
The Associated Press has the story:
UNICEF Director: ‘There is nowhere Safe for Gaza’s 1 Million Children to turn’
Newslooks- JERUSALEM (AP)
The United Nations children’s agency says its top official visited the Gaza Strip early Wednesday and met with children and their families in the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, in the south of the territory.
“What I saw and heard was devastating. They have endured repeated bombardment, loss and displacement,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. “Inside the Strip, there is nowhere safe for Gaza’s one million children to turn.”
Russell is among the few international officials to have visited the Gaza Strip since the war began following a surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
In the statement she called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” and for aid to be allowed unrestricted, saying that “in the hospital’s neonatal ward, tiny babies were clinging to life in incubators, as doctors worried how they could keep the machines running without fuel,” Russell said in the statement.
She also met UNICEF staff and their families. Over 100 U.N. staff have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched a war aimed at destroying Hamas.
UN REFUGEE AGENCY CONFIRMS FIRST RECEIPT OF FUEL, SAYS IT NEEDS MUCH MORE
CAIRO — The head of UNRWA, the U.N. relief agency for Palestinian refugees, confirmed Wednesday that it has received 23,000 liters (6,000 gallons) of fuel that crossed into Gaza via the Rafah crossing, but called for more to be allowed to enter the besieged territory.
The aid group says Israeli authorities allowed the fuel to enter under the restriction that it can only be used to transport aid into besieged Gaza.
“This fuel cannot be used for the overall humanitarian response, including for medical and water facilities or the work of UNRWA,” Philippe Lazzarini said in an online statement.
UNRWA needs 160,000 liters (42,200 gallons) of fuel each day to complete “basic humanitarian operations,” he added.
Israel declared war on Hamas and barred fuel shipments after its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, saying the group would divert the supplies for military use.
Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian affairs, announced early Wednesday that it would allow United Nations trucks to refill at the Rafah crossing on Wednesday. It said the decision was in response to a request from the United States,
COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY WARNS OF BLACKOUT BECAUSE OF FUEL SHORTAGE
JERUSALEM — The main Palestinian communications company warned Wednesday that Gaza will plunge into a communications blackout in a matter of hours following several short-term outages in recent weeks.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Paltel said dwindling fuel supplies have forced all of its generators in Gaza to shut down and that communications in the territory are now dependent on batteries.
The company warned of a “cessation of all communications services during the next few hours.”
Israel allowed the first shipment of fuel to enter the besieged territory on Wednesday, but the U.N. says the amount allowed in is not enough to aid the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation.
