UNICEF Archives - CrossFireArarbia

Pain of Gaza is a ‘Non-stop’ Israeli Stain

CrossFireArabia
July 29, 2026

By Ramzy Baroud

The words “killed”, “injured”, “maimed” and the like often lose a great part of their meaning when they are repeated so relentlessly.

Take, for example, a headline like: “13 Palestinians Killed in Gaza, Others Wounded.” Though many of us can still feel a deep sense of sadness over such a tragedy, the news itself becomes less shocking over time.

According to figures produced by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Israel has killed and wounded a total of over 250,000 Palestinians since the start of the genocide in 2023.

The tally is updated daily because the killing never stops.

On July 23, six Palestinians were killed in Gaza. A day earlier, 13 were killed and the day before that, nine others were killed and so on.

It is this “and so on” that makes us lose our sense, over time, of what these tragedies actually entail. These are innocent people who are burned alive in their tents, bombed in their cars, or killed while attempting to enjoy a brief moment of respite from the scorching heat on the beach.

Among the nine killed on July 21, an entire family, including four young children, was wiped out in a single strike. As reports of Israel’s daily harvest of Palestinian lives in Gaza multiply, journalists too often neglect to humanize those killed.

A photo circulating on social media showed three of those children: A boy wearing a T-shirt that read “Santa Monica Beach”; his bespectacled sister in a pink shirt, proudly holding a certificate of achievement from her school; and their youngest sister, posing gently.

These three represent every single Palestinian child killed since the start of this genocide. According to UN and international estimates, over 21,000 children have been killed in Gaza, with tens of thousands more maimed or buried under the rubble.

Though the daily routine of killing makes the tragedy feel less shocking for those merely hearing the numbers, it becomes infinitely more tragic for those who must bear it directly. In Gaza, not a single family has been spared the loss of loved ones, making the grief compound day after day.

There are no words to describe the collective pain of Gaza.

What makes the tragedy even more unbearable is that the entire world knows what has transpired and continues to transpire in Gaza, yet fails to do anything about it. We keep track of the numbers, we point to Israel’s barbarity, we decry the failure of international institutions, and we shake our heads in despair.

Yet, the outcome remains unchanged: the death toll rises, and new statistics are generated daily to remind us of the magnitude of the crisis.

A July 23 joint report by the FAO, UNICEF, and the World Food Programme found that 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza face acute food insecurity.

The report also warned that more than 74,000 children under five are expected to require urgent treatment for acute malnutrition over the coming year.

This report was released on the same day that Gaza health authorities updated the official death toll to over 73,311 Palestinians. That number is already higher now, as more have been killed since.

On that same day, Thameen Al Kheetan of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stated that “no place in Gaza can be considered safe”.

That statement is true, of course, but it is also the most well-known fact in the world right now. No one is contesting it. And yet, no one acts: Israel keeps bombing, the US Congress continues assigning it more weapons, and the rest of the world tracks the death tally.

Meanwhile, Israel—which has seized control of even more territory in Gaza since the so-called ceasefire—is now constructing massive earth barriers stretching an estimated 23 kilometers across the Strip.

Though it was never fair to begin with, even the original Trump Gaza plan never mentioned the building of interior borders, the theft of additional land, or the concentration of displaced Palestinians into tiny enclaves within an already small piece of land.

Israel’s long-term plan is not only to maintain permanent military control over Gaza, as top Israeli officials have declared, but also to prolong its torment indefinitely.

Even as I write this article, news reports indicate that four more Palestinians have just been killed. It is unlikely the number will remain that low; the Israeli army rarely kills in small numbers.

But even these small numbers represent human beings whose grief cannot be measured in statistics, summed up in official statements, or reduced to clichéd headlines.

Nor do survivors cling to the empty promise of international law prevailing over US-backed impunity. History has made Palestinians cynical. For generations, through every massacre and land theft since the 1948 Nakba, waiting for justice has yielded nothing but hollow promises and rising body counts.

The only difference between the past and the present is that today, we all know, see, and hear exactly what is happening in Gaza and across Palestine.

The very least we can do is refuse to turn our backs or reduce the genocide before our eyes to numbers.

If we allow that to happen, we become culpable, too: Israel does the killing, using American arms, while we sit by, counting the dead and shaking our heads at the sad state of the world.

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of eight books. His latest book, “Before the Flood”, was published by Seven Stories Press. His other books include “Our Vision for Liberation”, “My Father was a Freedom Fighter” and “The Last Earth”. Baroud is a non-resident senior research fellow at the Centre for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). He contributed this article to The Jordan Times

News

‘Sneeze and You Might Well Get Shot’ – UNICEF Man in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
June 20, 2026

After another deadly night of clashes in Lebanon, aid agencies issued a new alert for Gaza, where 265 Palestinian children have been killed since a ceasefire was announced in October 2025.

“During a period supposedly defined by restraint and protection, a child has been killed, on average, every single day for more than eight months,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. “That is an absurd and devastating figure.”

Killed while playing

Briefing journalists in Geneva via video from Amman, the UNICEF aid veteran noted that the children “were not killed in a warzone” but rather in their homes, schools while playing football or fishing.

“They were shot, they were bombed, they were struck by quadcopters” operated by the Israeli military, Mr. Elder continued.

The child fatalities are included among the nearly 1,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza and more than 3,100 injured since the ceasefire began, according to the enclave’s health authorities.

“You sneeze near the Orange Line and you may well get shot,” Mr. Elder maintained, referring to the “continual creeping” of Israel’s so-called “Yellow Line” and “Orange Line” boundaries of occupation.

‘Utter lack of accountability’

The uncertainty of these moving boundaries and “an utter lack of accountability” are the reason for such a high number of killings, with the Israeli forces responsible for “the vast, vast majority – 90 per cent plus”, the UNICEF spokesperson said.

The UN and partners have repeatedly warned that the conflict has had a catastrophic humanitarian impact since war erupted in October 2023, in response to Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel.

According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), no hospital is fully operational in Gaza, while UNICEF warns that water remains a daily uncertainty for 1.1 million children.

“I talk to mothers who have children screaming because they don’t have the clean water to wash [their skin]. Imagine a parent unable to fix that night after night,” Mr. Elder said. “The scale of human suffering in Gaza being inflicted upon Gaza and enabled by others on Palestinian children, it’s almost beyond comparison in our lifetime.”

Today, nearly 1.9 million people have been displaced in Gaza, many repeatedly, while more than 1.2 million have lost their homes.

In an update to the Security Council on Thursday, UN emergency relief chief Tom Fletcher reported that Israeli denial rates for aid missions into Gaza had dropped from 31 per cent before the ceasefire to 11 per cent today.

Nonetheless, Palestinians in Gaza remain “deprived of the basics that you would all demand for your own families: safety, shelter, clean water, healthcare, education”, he stressed.

Mr. Elder echoed that dire assessment, explaining that although some fuel is reaching generators still in working order, the Israeli authorities are not allowing spare parts into the enclave to fix broken machines, nor the oil needed to keep engines running smoothly.

“This is the environment my colleagues on the ground work in, keeping children breathing without a semblance of dignity,” he said.

Other major problems continue to go unresolved in Gaza caused by delays and denials of aid deliveries, not least the massive amount of solid waste still piling up, said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.

“We’ve all heard the stories about the rats, the insects, and so on and so forth, that this causes. So, there is an opportunity, there is a possibility to get rid of all that, but we are not getting the access to it,” he told journalists in Geneva.

More killing in Lebanon

The OCHA spokesperson also condemned the continuing flare-up in Lebanon overnight, with reports of at least 18 people killed in Israeli airstrikes in the south targeting Hezbollah fighters.

“We are seeing the same reports overnight, of course, with enormous concern, frankly…more fighting is not going to help anyone,” Mr. Laerke said, highlighting the high level of humanitarian needs across Lebanon and particularly in the south.

“It is infinitely easier and faster to hurt people and inflict damage than it is to restore people’s livelihoods, get them back to their homes, feed them and so on and so forth. There’s just one or two days of this kind of warfare that translate into months, sometimes years, of humanitarian operations on the ground.”

According to UNICEF, more than 770,000 children are experiencing heightened distress after repeated exposure to violence, loss and displacement. UN News

News

On ‘Average 12 Children Are Killed…Maimed Every Day,’ – UNICEF Chief in Lebanon

CrossFireArabia
June 18, 2026

“For more than three months, children in Lebanon have lived through experiences no child should ever endure. Many have fled their homes multiple times, witnessed violence first-hand, lost loved ones, and seen their schools, communities, and sense of safety shattered,” said UNICEF’s Country Representative in Lebanon Marcoluigi Corsi.

“After over 100 days of increased hostilities – since 2 March – 247 children have been killed and 992 injured, an average of 12 children killed or maimed every day. Behind these staggering figures are lives cut short or forever changed, and families facing profound loss, trauma, and uncertainty,” he added in a statement released Wednesday.

“The numbers alone cannot convey the full scale of the crisis. Beyond those killed and maimed, an entire generation of children has seen its childhood disrupted. Their sense of safety – one that every child needs to grow and thrive – remains profoundly undermined,” Corsi pointed out.

“With renewed hope for hostilities to halt, children need more than an end to violence – they require protection, sustained support to restore access to essential services, and to be offered a consistent pathway to recovery and a safer future,” he continued.

“Widespread destruction remains across large parts of the country, affecting homes, schools, and essential services – including water, sanitation and hygiene systems – further compounding already severe humanitarian needs,” the UNICEF country representative stressed.

“More than 770,000 children are experiencing heightened distress from repeated exposure to violence, loss and displacement. Many remain unable to return home because of ongoing fighting and the threat of unexploded ordnance,” Corsi continued.

“The scale of physical and psychological harm we are witnessing is unacceptable, and children continue to pay a terrible price for this conflict. Ending the violence is essential to restore access to education and other basic services and provide children with a pathway to recovery and a safer future. The true cost of this crisis will not only be measured in lives lost today, but in the opportunities missed tomorrow. Without sustained support, many children risk carrying the consequences of this war with them for years to come,” the UNICEF Chief in Beirut believes.

UNICEF reiterates its urgent call for a sustained cessation of hostilities. Children need to be protected from further harm and schools, hospitals, water systems and other civilian infrastructure urgently safeguarded. Humanitarian access must be ensured and international law must be respected.

“Most importantly, Lebanon’s children must be given the chance not only to survive this crisis, but to recover from it and reclaim the future that conflict has placed at risk,” Corsi concluded.

News

Lebanon: Israel Kills 3,884 Civilians, Injures 11,856

CrossFireArabia
June 18, 2026

The Lebanese Health Ministry announced the total death toll from the Israeli military offensive, from 2 March to 17 June, 2026, rose to 3,884 martyrs and 11,856 people injured.

The Health Ministry stated, Thursday, these figures are the documented cumulative toll of victims from 2 March to 17 June, 2026, amidst the ongoing Israeli military operations and airstrikes on different Lebanese regions.

Israeli airstrikes and shelling are targeting towns and villages in southern Lebanon. This is whilst there are direct attacks on civilian vehicles, including the targeting of a car in the southern town of Zifta.

On the humanitarian front, reports issued by UNICEF indicate that the Israeli offensive is causing, on average, the death and injury of 11 children every day.

These developments coincide with intensive diplomatic and regional efforts aimed at reaching understandings to halt the fighting and end the military escalation on the Lebanese front.

Diplomatic circles have circulated information about anticipated meetings and negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, directly or indirectly, in Washington between 23-25 June, to discuss withdrawal and the cessation of military operations.

This escalation coincides with discussions and leaks regarding a non-binding memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, with Tehran asserting that any progress in the negotiation process requires a complete end to the war in Lebanon.

In the international context, diplomatic sources spoke of American pressure on Israel to adhere to the ceasefire, while France called for the immediate implementation of agreements related to de-escalation and respect for Lebanese sovereignty.

On the other hand, Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem affirmed the party’s adherence to its positions and stressing his rejection of the disarmament of the group.

News

A Child Killed Everyday in Ceasefire Gaza

CrossFireArabia
January 13, 2026

Airstrikes, drone attacks and hypothermia continue in Gaza despite the ceasefire, with more than 100 youngsters killed since early October, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

“That’s roughly a girl or a boy killed here every day during a ceasefire,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.

“These children are killed from airstrikes, drone strikes, including suicide drones,” he said, speaking from Gaza City. “They’re killed from tank shelling, they’re killed from live ammunition, they’re killed from [remote-controlled] quadcopters.”

Mr. Elder pointed out that more children have also died of hypothermia in the last few days, as harsh winter conditions expose the most vulnerable Gazans.

Sheer cold kills six children

“We’ve now gone to six children who died of hypothermia just this winter,” he said. “I wish I could take a camera and show you 30, 40-kilometre [per hour] winds ripping through tents on the beach. It’s bitterly cold, it’s bitterly wet.”

The UNICEF spokesperson stressed that the ceasefire has allowed “genuine progress” in primary healthcare, with UNICEF and partners setting up the first health clinics in the north of the Strip and expanding immunization services.

But desperately needed medical evacuations of children remain at a standstill.

Mr. Elder noted “no noticeable improvement” both on approvals to get children with life-threatening injuries out of Gaza and in convincing more host countries take in the young patients.

He said that in his latest mission to the enclave, he spoke to many children and families denied evacuation despite completing an arduous, formal process.

These included a nine-year-old with shrapnel lodged in his eye who “will lose sight in an eye, maybe both”, a girl in Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City who “may well die” and another child whose leg needs amputating. “All three of those are absolute candidates for medical evacuation; all three of those have so far been denied,” Mr. Elder explained.

Before war erupted in Gaza following Hamas-led attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023, between 50 and 100 patients were evacuated from the enclave every day, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

In an alert on Tuesday, the agency warned that extensive clearance procedures by the Israeli authorities continue to cause delays to deliveries of medicine and food.

“Some essential medical items are classified as ‘dual-use’ and denied entry,” WHO said in a post on X, in reference to goods that are primarily intended for civilian use but which the Israeli authorities believe could be diverted by Hamas or other militant groups for military purposes.

International NGO ban looms

The UNICEF spokesperson also highlighted the dangers of a recent Israeli ban on international NGOs, which will come into effect in the coming month and mean “blocking life-saving assistance”, he alleged. Mr. Elder also stressed the importance of allowing international media into the enclave, which has not been granted despite the ceasefire.

“There needs to be a lot more pressure on allowing international journalists to come in,” he said. “This is my seventh mission [to Gaza] and every time I see the 360-degree devastation, flattening of homes, my jaw drops.”

“It is absolutely as staggering yesterday as it was the first time I saw it more than two years ago,” he insisted.

Mr. Elder warned that two years of war have “left life for Gaza’s children unimaginably hard,” explaining that “the psychological damage remains untreated, and it’s becoming deeper and harder to heal, the longer this goes on”.

“A ceasefire that slows the bombs is progress, but one that still buries children is not enough,” he concluded as reported in UN News.