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Middle East conflict

UNICEF brands Gaza Strip as deadly location for children

According to UNICEF Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder, only in the past two months, more than 950 children have reportedly been killed in strikes across the Gaza Strip

UNITED NATIONS, May 16. /TASS/. The suffering and killing of children in the Gaza Strip must end immediately with the enclave being a deadly location for kids, Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa, said.

"These past 19 months, Gaza has been deadly for children and there are no safe spaces. From North to South, children are being killed and maimed in hospitals, in schools-turned-shelters, in makeshift tents, or in their parents’ arms," he noted. According to Beigbeder whose statement was published on the organization’s website, "only in the past two months, more than 950 children have reportedly been killed in strikes across the Gaza Strip."

The official emphasized that the children in the embattled enclave have been "deprived of essential goods, services and lifesaving care since the beginning of the conflict." He noted that over the past two months, "the situation has further deteriorated, due to the imposed blockade of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip." "The threats to children’s lives go beyond bombs and bullets. The living conditions too, threaten their survival. With each passing day of the aid blockade, they face the growing risk of famine, illness, and death," Beigbeder added.

He urged the parties to the conflict to end the violence and the countries that have "influence over parties to the conflict to use their leverage and influence to end the conflict." "The daily suffering and killing of children must end immediately," the UNICEF official concluded.

On March 18, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip, launching massive strikes on the enclave and thus breaking the ceasefire established in January. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that Israel had restarted military operations in the enclave after the Gaza-based Palestinian movement Hamas rejected the US proposals put forward by mediators and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff. The office claimed that the Israeli military had resumed strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza to advance the release of hostages and that the army would intensify its campaign in the enclave. The Gaza-based movement has blamed the United States for the renewal of Israeli aggression.

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