VATICAN CITY - From Amman, Jordan, Edouard Beigbeder, Regional Director of Unicef, urges an end to the violence against defenceless civilians and the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. "No child standing in a bread queue or hiding in a tent should be trampled to death or killed by an air strike."
Stephen Leszczynski - Vatican
In the wake of the massacres of civilians in Nuseirat and Al Mawasi in the Gaza Strip, Unicef's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, from Jordan, is making a strong appeal to the parties to the conflict to "facilitate the delivery of aid to Gaza and the entire Strip by humanitarian actors and take all necessary measures to ensure that civilians always receive the protection they need in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law."
To die for a piece of bread
There are at least 50,000 children in Gaza suffering from acute malnutrition, Beigbeder condemned in his statement, and hundreds of thousands of children who have had to repeatedly flee the fighting. 'The continued normalisation of this horror must be turned into action to stop it,' he explained, adding that no child standing in line for a piece of bread or hiding in a makeshift tent 'should be trampled to death or killed by an air strike'.
Hell on Earth
"Day after day, week after week, for almost 14 months, Gaza has been hell on earth," writes the UNICEF regional director, adding that Gaza has now become a graveyard for children and families. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 43 000 people have been killed since the war began, while the humanitarian apparatus has now collapsed due to the constant obstacles imposed on the delivery of international aid. Unicef therefore calls on the warring parties to urgently comply with their obligations under international law.
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