Press release
At least 322 children reportedly killed in the Gaza Strip following breakdown of ceasefire
NEW YORK/AMMAN, 31 March 2025, – The breakdown of the ceasefire and resumption of intense bombardments and ground operations in the Gaza Strip has reportedly left at least 322 children dead and 609 injured – constituting a daily average of around 100 children killed or maimed over the past 10 days. Most of these c...
Statement
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the attacks in Gaza
NEW YORK, 18 March 2025, – “Reports and images emerging from the Gaza Strip following today’s attacks are beyond horrifying. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed, including more than 130 children, representing one of the largest single-day child death toll in the last year. “Some of the strikes reported...
Press release
With stoppage of humanitarian aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip, UNICEF warns of severe consequences for children and families in desperate need
NEW YORK / AMMAN, 3 March 2025, – UNICEF is warning that the stoppage of aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip will quickly lead to devastating consequences for children and families across Gaza who are struggling to survive. “The aid restrictions announced yesterday will severely compromise lifesaving operations for...
Statement
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the announcement of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip
NEW YORK, 15 January 2025 –, “UNICEF welcomes the announcement today of a ceasefire deal between the parties to the conflict in the Gaza Strip. This is long overdue for the children and families of Gaza who have endured more than a year of bombardment and deprivation, and for the hostages in Gaza and their familie...
Statement
UNICEF statement on Israeli legislation on UNRWA
NEW YORK, 30 October 2024 -, "UNRWA is the main UN agency providing essential services and protection to Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and is the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza. As the Secretary-General has said, ‘there is no alternative to UNRWA.’ “UNRWA is the only Unit...
Statement
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the situation in the Gaza Strip
NEW YORK, 24 July 2024 -, “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...
Press release
Child casualties in the West Bank skyrocket in the past nine months
NEW YORK, 22 July 2024, – A total of 143 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October last year, a spike of nearly 250 per cent compared to the preceding nine months, during which 41 Palestinian children were killed. Two Israeli children have been killed in the W...
Press release
Almost 3,000 malnourished children at risk of “dying before their families’ eyes” as Rafah offensive disconnects them from treatment - UNICEF
AMMAN, 11 June 2024 , – Almost 3,000 children have been cut off from treatment for moderate and severe acute malnutrition in southern Gaza, putting them at risk of death as harrowing violence and displacement continue to impact access to healthcare facilities and services for desperate families. This number, based...
Statement
Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khodr, on intensifying hostilities in Rafah and North Gaza
AMMAN, 14 MAY 2024 –, "The escalation of hostilities in Rafah and throughout the Gaza Strip has deepened the suffering of hundreds of thousands of children, who have endured an unrelenting nightmare for the past 218 days. We cannot accept their plight being livestreamed as collateral damage in a conflict they never chose. “Last week, a long-feared military operation…
Remarks
As Rafah needs rise, humanitarian response forced to ‘scrape the bottom of the barrel’
GENEVA/RAFAH, Gaza, 10 May 2024 –, “Thank you, and greetings from Rafah in Gaza. I have been working on large-scale humanitarian emergencies for the best part of the last 30 years and I've never been involved in a situation as devastating, complex or erratic as this. “When I arrived in Gaza in the middle of Novem...
Press release
Acute malnutrition has doubled in one month in the north of Gaza strip: UNICEF
NEW YORK, 15 MARCH 2024, –31 per cent - or 1 in 3 children under 2 years of age – in the Northern Gaza Strip suffer from acute malnutrition, a staggering escalation from 15.6 per cent in January. Malnutrition among children is spreading fast and reaching devastating and unprecedented levels in the Gaza Strip due to the wide-reaching impacts of the war and ongoing…
Remarks
Born into hell
GENEVA, 19 January 2024 –, “In the 105 days of this escalation in the Gaza Strip, nearly 20,000 babies have been born into war. That’s a baby born into this horrendous war every 10 minutes. “This time last week, I was spending time with mothers at the Emirati Hospital in Rafah, the Gaza Strip. “The day there was ...