DaysofPal – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced it is scaling up its humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip following the recent ceasefire, warning that children remain in grave danger despite the lull in fighting.
Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said the agency is “racing against the clock to save children’s lives from preventable threats like malnutrition, disease, and the winter cold.”
Beigbeder described the situation as a continuing humanitarian catastrophe, noting that more than 64,000 children have been killed or injured since the start of the war, and over 58,000 have lost at least one parent. He said that one million children have endured unimaginable suffering, calling Gaza “the most dangerous place in the world for children.”
Restoring Education and Hope
Despite immense challenges, UNICEF says it has already brought more than 100,000 children back to classrooms during the conflict and is now working to restore education for another 650,000. The agency plans to establish semi-permanent learning spaces and repair damaged schools to help children regain a sense of normalcy.
“Education is not only a right, it is also a path to healing,” Beigbeder said, emphasizing the urgent need to rebuild schools and provide psychosocial support to children traumatized by war.
Beigbeder stressed that the ceasefire must be accompanied by the full and immediate reopening of all crossings into Gaza, urging Israeli authorities to allow unrestricted passage of humanitarian aid, including education and mental health support materials that have been blocked from entering for more than a year.
He warned that without consistent access for aid organizations, the fragile hope emerging from the ceasefire could quickly fade.
Concluding his statement, Beigbeder said, “A fragile hope is returning to Gaza, but the world cannot allow the ceasefire to fail. Building a safe and inclusive future for Gaza’s children requires genuine peace and serious international will.”
As winter approaches and famine and disease loom, UNICEF says it is intensifying its response to protect Gaza’s most vulnerable, its children, who continue to bear the heaviest cost of war.
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