DaysofPal- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that Gaza is facing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, with 1.9 million people, nearly the entire population, forcibly displaced amid ongoing Israeli bombardments.
In a statement published Saturday to mark Palestinian Children’s Day, UNRWA said that “since the onset of the war in Gaza, about 1.9 million people, including thousands of children, have been forcibly displaced; many have been displaced repeatedly amid ongoing bombardment, fear, and loss.”
The agency emphasized that this mass displacement is not a one-time occurrence. “The collapse of the Gaza ceasefire caused another wave of forced displacement involving more than 142,000 people who were internally displaced between March 18 and 23,” UNRWA noted, underscoring the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire.
UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, condemned the continued Israeli attacks that have turned Gaza into a place unfit for children. “Nothing justifies the killing of children,” Lazzarini said on X (formerly Twitter). “Young lives are being cut short in a war not of children’s making. This is a stain on our common humanity.”
According to the United Nations, at least 100 children have been killed or injured every day in Gaza since March 18, when Israel resumed its full-scale assault after reneging on a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that had been in place since January 19.
The Palestinian Statistics Authority reported that Israel has killed 17,954 children in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Women and children make up more than 60 percent of the total victims of the ongoing genocidal war.
UNRWA’s statement comes amid growing international concern over the humanitarian collapse in Gaza. The agency warned that continued displacement, combined with the lack of aid access, is worsening the already dire conditions for civilians, especially children. Lazzarini said the besieged territory is being turned into a “no land” for children.
As the war continued and ceasefire talks stalled, UNRWA reiterated its call for urgent international action. “What is happening in Gaza is a moral failure,” the agency concluded. “There must be an immediate ceasefire to end the suffering and save lives.”
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