UNICEF: Israel Killed 9 Children, Injured  556 in 2 Months

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that Israel killed 9 Palestinian children between May 7 and July 31, 2021, injured 556 children, and arrested at least 170 Palestinian children in the same period in occupied Jerusalem.

The United Nations (UN) warned in a new report released yesterday, Thursday, that it will not be able to resume its operations to support the children of Palestine due to a severe deficit in its budget.

The UNICEF noted that during the recent escalation between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Israel targeted 116 private kindergartens and 140 public school buildings that were damaged.

In addition, Israeli warplanes hit 41 schools affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Regarding the Corona pandemic, the “UNICEF” report said that there were 345,702 confirmed cases of COVID-19, in the occupied Palestinian territories, 50% of which were women and 12% were children under the age of 18.

The report indicated that during the recent Israeli aggression, the need to provide humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of children increased, reaching $47 million, with a gap of about $33 million.

The report indicated that UNRWA and its partners succeeded in restoring water, sanitation, and hygiene services to 415,000 affected people by providing fuel for generators, chemicals, and spare parts for water production, treatment, and repairing damaged water and sanitation infrastructure.

The report added that 11 essential medicines were provided to benefit 195,800 people, and 18 consumer items benefiting 35,000 people in the Gaza Strip.

The report spoke of a rapid damage needs assessment study that was conducted after the recent aggression by the World Bank, the European Union, and the United Nations. The assessment includes the damaging of 116 private kindergartens and 140 public school buildings, in addition to 41 UNRWA school buildings.

Moreover, 63 other UNRWA school buildings were damaged due to the absorption of the approximately 70,000 displaced in the Gaza Strip who sought refuge in these schools during the escalation period.

Health services in the Gaza Strip were also severely affected by the escalation in May 2021, as 33 health facilities were damaged during the conflict.