UN: 5,300 children killed in Gaza in 46 days 115 children a day

Catherine Russell, Executive Director of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has said that 5,300 children have died in 46 days in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7.

“More than 5,300 Palestinian children have been reportedly killed in just 46 days – that is over 115 a day, every day, for weeks and weeks,” Russell told a UN Security Council briefing on the situation in the Gaza Strip, Caliber.Az reports, citing the UNICEF website.

“Based on these figures, children account for forty per cent of the deaths in Gaza. This is unprecedented. In other words, today, the Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child,” Russell noted.

“We are also receiving reports that more than 1,200 children remain under the rubble of bombed-out buildings or are otherwise unaccounted for,” she said.

Russell noted that UNICEF also welcomes the limited ceasefire agreement reached on November 22 between Israel and the Palestinian military organization Hamas.

“We are positioned to quickly scale up the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid in Gaza but, of course, more resources are needed to meet ever-growing needs,” she added.

Meanwhile, the Palestine Red Crescent said it has evacuated 190 wounded and sick people at the Al-Shifa Hospital towards the south of Gaza, warning that there are still many people trapped at the facility in the north.

Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, was rendered out of service due to a shortage of fuel. Last week, Israeli forces raided the facility, which they claim has been built atop Hamas’ network of underground tunnels. Both the hospital management and the Palestinian group deny these allegations.

In a post on X, PRCS said: “The wounded were transferred to the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, and the dialysis patients were transferred to Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah.”

PRCS further said the evacuation process lasted almost 20 hours as the convoy was obstructed at Israeli checkpoints in both northern and southern Gaza. Three paramedics were also detained during the transportation.

Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in Reserve said that the IDF destroyed up to 12 battalions of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas during the fighting in the northern Gaza Strip.

"So far, we have had good, stable and methodical progress in the northern part of Gaza. We fought and disabled 11 to 12 of the dozen Hamas battalions in northern Gaza. This is good progress," he said.

"Not all of them have been put out of action yet, but their main combat capabilities have been seriously damaged as a result of our actions. But there is also the second half, the other 12 Hamas battalions in the central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip," Conricus added.

"And, of course, everyone understands that in order to prevent another October 7, another terrorist attack from Gaza, we need to ensure the destruction of all the capabilities of Hamas. This is exactly what the Israel Defense Forces is going to do," he stressed.

It is also reported that the IDF is shelling Palestinian settlements in the West Bank.

Israeli troops are storming the Qalandiya refugee camp, north of Jerusalem, and advancing in the vicinity of Nablus.

A shootout is also reported in the Balat refugee camp, where the Israeli military shot and killed a Palestinian man.

Moreover, the administration of US President Joe Biden is reportedly using the agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement to push the Israeli government to expand security measures in the Gaza Strip.

Among other things, the matter here is the creation of "safe zones" for the Palestinian population.

The US and Qatar are also pushing Israel to extend the four-day cease-fire planned as part of the hostage release deal. In exchange for extending the humanitarian pause, the sources said, Hamas may release more than the promised 50 hostages.

In addition, the US administration calls for an increase in the volume of medical aid, fuel, and humanitarian supplies imported into the Gaza Strip. Thus, the US is trying to reduce the number of civilian casualties in the enclave.