International criticism of Israel grows due to war death toll
Gaza:
More than 13,000 children have been killed in Gaza during the Israeli offensive, the U.N. children’s agency said on Sunday, adding that many suffered from severe malnutrition and “don’t even have the strength to cry.”
The executive director of UNICEF said: “Thousands more are injured, or we are not even sure where they are. They may be trapped under the rubble… We have not seen such a high level in almost any other conflict in the world. Child mortality,” Kathryn Russell told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“I have been in a ward for children with severe anemia and malnutrition, and the whole ward was absolutely silent. Because the children, the babies… didn’t even have the strength to cry.”
Russell said there are “very huge bureaucratic challenges” in getting trucks to Gaza for aid and assistance.
International criticism of Israel has grown over the war death toll, Gaza’s hunger crisis and accusations of blocking aid deliveries to the enclave.
A United Nations expert said earlier this month that Israel is destroying Gaza’s food system as part of a wider “hunger campaign.” Israel rejects the accusation.
Israel’s military attack on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has displaced nearly 2.3 million people in the area, triggered a hunger crisis, razed much of the enclave and killed more than 31,000 people, the Gaza Health Ministry said. It also led to a World Court investigation into accusations of genocide.
Israel denies accusations of genocide and says it acted in self-defense after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people and took dozens of hostages, according to Israeli statistics.
A third of children under the age of two in northern Gaza are now severely malnourished and famine is imminent, the main United Nations agency operating in the Palestinian enclave said on Saturday.
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