In a report following a visit to the Palestinian territory, UNICEF’s communications officer for the Middle East and North Africa, Tess Ingram, said that people live there amidst fear, flight and funerals. It also indicated that children are in grave danger.

Nearly a million people remain in Gaza City, where the collapse of essential services is leaving children and the most vulnerable fighting to survive, while famine spreads and humanitarian aid is virtually non-existent, she warned.

Only 44 out of the 92 outpatient nutrition treatment centres supported by UNICEF are still functioning, which means that thousands of malnourished children do not have access to this vital support.

Meanwhile, hospitals are at the limit of their capacity. Only 11 are still partially working and no more than five have neonatal intensive care units, he added.

It also reported that 80 babies are fighting for their lives “in overloaded machines, totally dependent on generators and medical supplies that could run out at any moment”.

Igram called on all states and influential actors to do their best to end the conflict.

The price of inaction will be measured in the lives of children buried in rubble, malnourished and voiceless before they even have a chance to speak, she said.

abo/mem/gas