People walk past debris in a street at the site of Israeli air strikes, in Gaza City May 16, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
New York: UNICEF Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland and Regional Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Ted Chaiban called on political, religious and community leaders on all sides to protect civilians, and children in particular, at all times.
This comes in the wake of the killing of eight Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip last night, as a result of Israeli air strikes.
According to the UN website today, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process expressed his dismay at the Israeli air raid on Gaza, which killed eight Palestinian children. He said, "I was horrified by the terrifying incident in the Al-Shati refugee camp, in which 8 Palestinian children were killed in an Israeli air strike."
Tor Wennesland explained that since May 10, 40 children have been killed in Gaza as a result of the Israeli strikes.
The Special Coordinator expressed grief over the loss of children's lives. "Children continue to be victims of this deadly escalation. I repeat, children should not be the target of violence and must not be harmed. Hostilities must stop now," he said, according to a statement issued by Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. On the killing of eight Palestinian children in northern Gaza last night, "the number of children killed there since May 10 increases to at least 40 children."
The statement indicated that the children's ages ranged from 6 months to 17 years. "More than half of them are under ten years old."
In his statement, Ted Chaiban said, “During the past week, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, a 16-year-old child was killed and at least 54 Palestinian children were injured, and 26 children have been arrested since May 7.
In Gaza, 35 schools have been damaged, while at least 29 schools are being used as temporary shelters for displaced families who fled their homes due to extreme violence. About 10,000 people have been displaced, the majority of them children.
The UNICEF Regional Director said that the scale of violence is enormous, and that children bear the greatest burden as a result of this escalation.
He called on everyone to stop the escalation, saying: "All parties must back off and end the violence. All parties have an obligation to protect civilians - especially children - and facilitate humanitarian access." ... stressing that "the underlying causes of this violence will not be addressed through more violence."