New York - Saba:
A UN organization has described the Gaza Strip as a "graveyard for children" and emphasized that "the killing must stop," noting that the residents of Gaza endure "shattered lives and an unending cycle of pain and indescribable suffering," as the ongoing conflict in Gaza has persisted since October 7, 2023.
According to the Palestinian Information Center, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) issued a press release highlighting the continuous indiscriminate attacks on children, civilians, and humanitarian workers in Gaza, stressing that the time has come to end this aggression. UNICEF called for an immediate ceasefire.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell pointed out the "bloody weekend in northern Gaza," where more than 50 children were killed in Jabalia in the past 48 hours alone, especially following Israeli airstrikes on two residential buildings housing hundreds of displaced residents and civilians.
Russell also reported that a UNICEF worker’s vehicle, part of the emergency polio vaccination campaign team in northern Gaza, came under fire from a quadcopter drone in Jabalia's Nazla neighborhood.
The UN official underscored the "need to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, as well as humanitarian workers and their vehicles," by international humanitarian law.
UNICEF demanded that the Israeli authorities "immediately investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack on one of its staff members and take necessary measures to hold those responsible accountable."
The organization also urged its member states to "use their influence to ensure respect for international law and prioritize the protection of children," renewing its call for an end to the aggression.
Earlier, leaders of several UN agencies, including the World Food Programme and other humanitarian organizations, issued a statement warning that the situation in northern Gaza is catastrophic.
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