‘City of children’, Rafah, ‘must not be invaded’: UNICEF
Geneva, Switzerland - UNICEF on Tuesday said the city of children, Rafah, ‘ must not be invaded’, urging the continuation of humanitarian aid flow into Gaza.
“Our worst fear - Gazans’ nightmare - appears to be a reality. A reality that those holding power have the ability to prevent,” spokesperson James Elder told a UN press briefing in Geneva. Elder noted that every warning and every ‘ mind-boggling piece of data’ on the number of children and mothers killed and of homes and hospitals destroyed’ are all ignored.
Underlining that Rafah is a city of children as more than half of the children in Gaza live in Rafah, he said: “This past weekend’s events in Gaza - the continued killing of children, more attacks from the warring parties, and now evacuation orders - yet again expose how parties to this conflict continue to utterly disregard the lives and protection of
Our worst fear appears to be a reality. A reality that those holding power have the ability to prevent
JAMES ELDER
children and civilians.”
“That has to change. Indeed, this is the last chance for this to change,” he urged, and added: “Aid must flow. Hostages must be freed. Rafah must not be invaded. And children must no longer be killed.”
He reiterated UNICEF’S call for cessation of hostilities, saying: “For the children of Rafah, we need a ceasefire, now.”
The spokesperson underlined that Rafah is the entry point for most of the aid entering Gaza.
“A military assault will, at best, greatly complicate aid delivery. If Rafah gate closes for an extended period, it’s hard to see how famine in Gaza can be averted,” Elder warned. He also said Rafah is home to what is now Gaza’s ‘largest remaining hospital’, the European Hospital, and said: “Amid the systematic devastation of Gaza’s health system, Rafah’s European Hospital is one of civilians’ last lifelines.”
The situation in Rafah is also not bright and ‘staggeringly much worse’, as there is about one toilet for every 850 people and one shower for every 3,500 people, and now that families have been told to move, Elder noted.
He added that hundreds of thousands of children in Rafah have a disability, medical condition, or vulnerability that puts them in even ‘greater jeopardy’, and makes it much more difficult for them to relocate.