LOC23:04
20:04 GMT
WASHINGTON, April 16 (KUNA) -- The shattered bodies and fractured lives of Gaza's children are a testament to the brutality being forced upon them, Tess Ingram, spokesperson of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), said on Tuesday.
In news remarks, Ingram said "and with one child killed or injured every ten minutes, above anything else, we need a ceasefire. It is the only way to stop the killing and maiming of children".
"I left Gaza yesterday (Monday) after spending two weeks there. It was my second mission into Gaza this year. By far, what struck me most about this mission was the number of wounded children.
"The total number of injured children in this conflict is quite difficult to gather, but the most recent data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health documents more than 12,000 children - or almost 70 children every day - injured in Gaza since the current conflict began," she said.
"These children have become the faces of the ongoing war. From devastating injuries sustained in airstrikes, to the trauma of being caught in violent clashes, their stories paint a harrowing picture of the human consequences of conflict.
However, she said that there is still a chance to prevent starvation in Gaza if the Strip is flooded with aid. She stated that access to north of the Strip is still highly restricted.
"Medivacs are difficult to get - less than half of the patients who submitted requests for medical evacuation have been approved, according to WHO. Only about 3,500 people, mostly children, have been medically evacuated abroad. That's less than 20 a day," she noted. (end)
amm.hm