United Nations, April 6.- The conflict in Gaza has accumulated more child deaths than all armed conflicts on the planet in the last four years, said the executive director of UN Save the Children in the United States, Janti Soeripto.
During a briefing before the Security Council, the humanitarian representative warned that almost 350,000 children under five years of age are at risk of starvation in the enclave after months of deliberate denial of humanitarian access.
Severe malnutrition is not a calm or painless death, she warned, insisting on other difficulties faced by civilians in the Strip such as access to sanitation or lack of education.
If humanitarian workers are given safe access and a ceasefire, we can save lives, the executive director acknowledged after describing the horrors experienced on several visits to the enclave under Israel’s siege.
Despite the dangers, humanitarians return to work because they believe civilians in conflict have the right to access basic elements to survive, she said.
However, she added, aid organizations are overwhelmed by impediments and the lack of priority given to human lives.
Soeripto called on the Security Council for a resolution for a permanent ceasefire, including robust measures to ensure its compliance by the warring parties.
At the same time, it demanded member states end arms sales that fuel hostilities along with a plan to finance and rebuild critical infrastructure in Gaza.
What happens in this room does matter, for accountability, for establishing standards that we expect everyone to respect, she stressed with a call for political will to use everything within reach.
During the meeting, Ramesh Rajasingham, representative of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, assured that the UN and its partners provided an average daily food assistance for 550 thousand people last week.
However, they were only able to bring four percent of that amount to Gaza City and other areas of the northern Strip, where the Israel Defense Forces block access.
The United Nations official called for greater access for the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) and all impartial humanitarian organizations to safely, quickly and unhindered access to all civilians in need.
This tragedy cannot be allowed to continue, she added. (Text and photo: PL)
