GAZA – More than 96% of women and children in Gaza are unable to meet their basic nutritional needs, relying on rationed flour, lentils, pasta, and canned food—a diet that slowly compromises their health, UNICEF said in a statement on Saturday.
The statement further added that children in Gaza are “cold, sick, and traumatized, with hunger, malnutrition, and dire living conditions, continuing to put their lives at risk.”
In November, an average of 65 truckloads of aid entered Gaza, a sharp decline from the 500 truckloads that arrived daily before the war, when Gaza still had internal food production capacity. Moreover, the northern part of Gaza has been under a total siege for 75 days, with humanitarian assistance unable to reach children in need for more than 10 weeks.
Pope Francis condemned on Saturday the bombing of children in Gaza as “cruelty,” a day after the enclave’s rescue agency said the Zionist forces launched an air attack, claiming the lives of seven children from one family.
“Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war. I want to say it because it touches my heart,” he told an audience of members of the government of the Holy See.
Since the start of the Zionist genocidal war, the besieged enclave has turned into a graveyard for thousands of children, the UN said. According to Palestinian officials, at least 17,400 children have been martyred.
In other words, the Zionist occupation strikes result in the martyrdom of one child every 30 minutes, with thousands more remaining buried under the rubble.
