Press release
Devastating rate of child malnutrition in the Gaza Strip in August surpasses July record
NEW YORK, 11 September 2025 –, Child malnutrition in the Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate, with the latest evidence showing a record proportion/ of children screened were identified as acutely malnourished in August. The percentage of children identified as acutely malnourished in screenings...
Statement
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the children killed by the alarming escalation of violence in the Middle East
NEW YORK, 15 June 2025 –, “This weekend’s surge in violence across the Middle East signals a dangerous escalation. Children are once again paying the ultimate price. “Since Friday, an intense military escalation in the region has seen strikes on Iran and Israel hit residential areas, killing and injuring civilians...
Statement
‘Unimaginable horrors’: more than 50,000 children reportedly killed or injured in the Gaza Strip
AMMAN, 27 May 2025 –, “In a 72-hour period this weekend, images from two horrific attacks provide yet more evidence of the unconscionable cost of this ruthless war on children in the Gaza Strip. “On Friday, we saw videos of the bodies of burnt, dismembered children from the al-Najjar family being pulled from the ...
Statement
Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, on the killing of at least 45 children in the Gaza Strip
AMMAN, 16 May 2025, - “The reported killing of at least 45 children in the Gaza Strip in the last two days is yet another devastating reminder that children in Gaza are suffering first and foremost, having to starve day after day only to be victims of indiscriminate attacks. “These past 19 months, Gaza has been d...
Press release
Risk of famine for children across Gaza, new report says
ROME/NEW YORK, 12 May 2025 –, Populations across the Gaza Strip are at risk of famine as fighting has surged again, border crossings are still closed, and food is dangerously scarce. Hunger and malnutrition have intensified sharply since all aid was blocked from entering on 2 March, reversing the clear humanitaria...
Statement
Statement from UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the situation for children in the Gaza Strip after two months of aid blockade
NEW YORK, 2 May 2025, - “For two months, children in the Gaza Strip have faced relentless bombardments while being deprived of essential goods, services and lifesaving care. With each passing day of the aid blockade, they face the growing risk of starvation, illness and death – nothing can justify this. “Families...
Statement
Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder on child casualties in the West Bank
AMMAN, 12 February 2025 –, “Conflict-related violence continues to bring death and fear to civilians, including women and children in the West Bank. On 7 February, a 10-year-old Palestinian boy succumbed to his wounds after reportedly being shot, while two days later, in another tragic event in Nur Shams camp, an eight-months pregnant woman was reportedly shot and killed…
Remarks
"Cold, sick and traumatized" - the ongoing nightmare for children in Gaza
AMMAN/GENEVA, 20 December 2024 –, “Children in Gaza are cold, sick and traumatized. Hunger and malnutrition, and the dire living conditions more broadly, continue to put the lives of children at risk. Right now, over 96% of women and children in Gaza cannot meet their basic nutritional needs. Most are surviving on...
Press release
Regular attacks put Gaza schools-turned-shelters on the “frontlines of war”
NEW YORK, 8 November 2024 –, At least 64 attacks against schools – almost two every day – were registered in the Gaza Strip last month, according to the latest data from UNICEF and partners. An estimated 128 people were reportedly killed in the strikes, many of them children. The attacks on schools in October – wh...
Statement
Statement by UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Adele Khodr on the decimation of newborn care in the Gaza Strip
AMMAN, 5 November 2024, - “The Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has become a besieged war zone. Its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the last remaining in the north, has reportedly been damaged in heavy attacks in recent days. “Access to the hospital is incredibly difficult but reports indicate that chil...
Statement
Statement by UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations Ted Chaiban on the near-blockade of aid and access in North Gaza
NEW YORK, 18 October 2024, - "The situation in northern Gaza is extremely grave. Renewed mass forced displacement, increased conflict, and ongoing military obstruction that amounts to an effective-blockade has cut off hundreds of thousands of children and families from vital humanitarian aid. “The number of aid trucks entering the north has reduced to an unacceptable…