Tad Chaiban, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action, told reporters at the UN headquarters on Wednesday that attacks by some Palestinian groups, including Hamas, in southern Israel will be confirmed in October (2023). A massive catastrophe for children and beyond, the terrible suffering of children in Gaza continues.
Tad Chayban was answering questions from reporters via video link after visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories recently.
Children should feel pain
“They asked me to be a voice for the victimized children,” said Tad Chayban, recalling his meetings with Israeli children and families affected by the October 7 attacks.
Tad Chayban said UNICEF will continue to work with the relevant ministries in Israel to ensure that children receive the support they need.
They called on the Israeli authorities to ensure easy access and increased supply of aid and commercial supplies, particularly fresh food and nutritional items.
“I advocated for the protection of children, better security measures and standard procedures for the behavior of humanitarian aid workers and for facilitating the movement of children separated from their parents and guardians,” said Tad Chayban.
The loss of an entire generation
A senior UNICEF official has warned that in Gaza and the West Bank, a generation of children is missing, missing months of schooling and suffering extreme hardship.
Tad Chayban visited Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, the area’s only pediatric medical facility. There he saw a child with bullet and stab wounds from a bomb and his mother, who survived the attack.
Living in filth
Tad Chaiban also describes how families are forced to live in deplorable conditions in overcrowded shelters.
He said, “I visited a school that has been turned into a shelter. There, people have dug a hole in the middle of the school, to drain the dirty water – people and children are actually living in that dirty water.”
Chaiban warned that these conditions are very favorable for the spread of disease.
A ceasefire must be implemented immediately
Tad Chayban stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire to protect the lives of children, to ensure access to needed aid and for the unconditional release of all hostages.
“In the absence of a ceasefire, we need a ceasefire where polio vaccination campaigns are allowed,” he said.
“Continued destruction of Gaza and escalation of violence in the West Bank will not restore peace or security to the region – this peace and security can only be achieved through a negotiated political solution, involving Israelis and Palestinians.” should be given.”
Concern over rising number of infant deaths
Meanwhile in Geneva, some independent human rights experts expressed concern over the high number of children killed in the war in Gaza and its devastating effect on Palestinian teenagers held hostage by Israel.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its review of Israel, deplores the fact that Israel’s heavy and disproportionate attacks on Gaza have left children killed, maimed and injured or missing, displaced, orphaned and vulnerable to famine, malnutrition and disease.
According to Palestinian officials, more than 11,300 children have been killed in Gaza since Israeli bombardment began on October 7, following an attack by Hamas.
Independent human rights experts say they are deeply concerned about continued abductions, arbitrary arrests and long-term detentions by Israeli forces, many of whom are detained without charge or trial or held for long periods without legal aid.