News Center- UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell released a statement on Wednesday on the situation in the Gaza Strip.

“With each passing week, children and families face new horrors in the Gaza Strip. The devastating attacks on schools and internally displaced sites continue, reportedly killing hundreds more Palestinians, many of them women and children, and leaving already overwhelmed hospitals buckling under the strain.”

Doctors and nurses with no resources, struggling to save lives. Thousands of boys and girls are sick, hungry, injured, or separated from their families, Catherine Russell said, stressing that they see children who withstood previous injuries only to be hurt again.

“As families are repeatedly forced to move to escape the immediate violence, the humanitarian situation is beyond catastrophic.”

The violence and deprivation are leaving permanent scars on their vulnerable bodies and minds. And now, with a breakdown in sanitation and sewage treatment, the polio virus joins the list of threats, especially for the thousands of unvaccinated children, the statement said.

‘The dire situation and attacks against humanitarian personnel continue to obstruct our efforts’

“Humanitarian agencies, including UNICEF, are doing everything we can to respond, but the dire situation and attacks against humanitarian personnel continue to obstruct our efforts. Just yesterday, a clearly marked UNICEF vehicle was hit by bullets while waiting at a designated holding point near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint. It was one of two vehicles on the way to pick up five young children to reunite them with their father after their mother was killed. Fortunately, no one was injured, and the team managed to reunite the family.

“Simply put - we do not have the necessary conditions in the Gaza Strip for a robust humanitarian response. The flow of aid must be unimpeded and access must be regular and safe.”

At least aid workers killed in Gaza

According to the statement, at least 278 aid workers in the Gaza Strip have been killed since October 7, 2023. “We need an immediate improved security environment, including security for aid delivery trucks, to allow aid workers to safely reach the communities they intend to serve.