By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action, Ted Chaiban on Thursday warned the terror attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups on Israeli communities last October marked a devastating day for children, and the suffering has continued unabated.
Ted Chaiban stressed the urgent need for an immediate end to the hostilities and a negotiated political settlement that prioritises the rights and well-being of both Israeli and Palestinian children, now and in the future.
He briefed the reporters in New York, via video link from the West Bank, have concluded a visit to Israel and Palestine.
Mr. Chaiban recalled his meeting with Israeli children and families who were affected by the 7 October 2023 attacks, stated that “they asked me to be the voice of all children to relay their suffering.”
He added that UNICEF will work with relevant ministries in Israel to ensure the children there are supported.
Mr. Chaiban also asked Israeli authorities for increased access for aid and commercial goods, in particular fresh food and nutrition supplies.
“I advocated for protecting children, improved security measures, and standard operating procedures for humanitarian personnel and facilitating the movement of separated unaccompanied children,” he said.
Chaiban warned of a “lost generation” of children, who have lost months of learning and endured agonizing trauma in Gaza and the West Bank.
He visited Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza the only remaining paediatric unit in the area.
“The baby is a striking reminder of the thousands and thousands of children who have been killed and injured in the Gaza Strip in the past 11 months,” Mr. Chaiban said, as he cited the situation of other children suffering from cancer and other deadly diseases.
“If we do not evacuate them quickly, they will not make it. We will make all efforts with our colleagues at WHO to get these children out for treatment.”
Mr. Chaiban described how families are living in overcrowded shelters in squalid conditions.
“I visited a school, which was turned into a shelter. There in the middle of the school court, people had dug a makeshift open sewer to evacuate wastewater people and children are literally living in that wastewater,” he said.
He warned that conditions were rife for emergence and spread of diseases.
Chaiban added that aid deliveries to the enclave have fallen sharply, from an average of up to 100 trucks a day in January, to 50 in August, and just 15 in September. Reasons included concerns over law and order, limitations on the fence road, and insufficient entry points.
He underscored the urgent need for a ceasefire to protect the lives children, enable the delivery of critical aid, and the unconditional release of all hostages, especially the two children.
“In the absence of a ceasefire, we need the kind of pauses that allowed for the polio campaign,” he said.
He reiterated the need for increased security for staff, standardized checkpoint procedures and enhanced telecom capacity in Gaza, including Internet.
“The continued destruction of Gaza and the escalating violence in the West Bank will not bring peace or safety to the region that can only be achieved with a negotiated political solution, one that prioritises the rights and well-being of this and future generation of Israeli and Palestinian children,” he said.
UN human rights experts also expressed concern over the “high number” of children in Gaza killed as a result of the war and the damaging impact on Palestinian youngsters being detained by Israel.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child condemned the fact that children in Gaza had been “killed, maimed, injured”, or were “missing, displaced, orphaned and subjected to famine, malnutrition and disease, as a result of [Israel’s] indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks”.
According to the Palestinian authorities, over 11,300 children have been killed since Israeli bombardment of Gaza began on 7 October in response to Hamas-led terror attacks.
The child rights panel said that they were deeply worried about the “continued abduction, arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention of large numbers of Palestinian children by Israeli forces, mostly without charge, trial or legal representation”.
They also condemned the “malicious manipulation” of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies to explode simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria, describing the attacks as “terrifying” violations of international law.
“A climate of fear now pervades everyday life in Lebanon,” the experts said in a news release.
The attacks killed at least 32 people and maimed or injured 3,250, including 200 critically, it noted.
Some 500 people suffered severe eye injuries, including a diplomat. Others suffered grave injuries to their faces, hands, and bodies.
“These attacks violate the human right to life, absent any indication that the victims posed an imminent lethal threat to anyone else at the time,” the experts said.
They called for prompt, independent investigation to establish the truth and enable accountability.
The experts noted that international humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby-traps disguised as apparently harmless portable objects.
The experts added that at the time of the attacks there was no way of knowing who possessed each device and who was nearby.
“Simultaneous attacks by thousands of devices would inevitably violate humanitarian law, by failing to verify each target, and distinguish between protected civilians and those who could potentially be attacked for taking a direct part in hostilities,” they added.
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