IRIA News

More children have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces in the past six months than in all the conflicts across the world in the last four years, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on April 28, 2024.

So far, more than 34,400 people, including 13,000 children, have been killed and at least 77,500 have been injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.

The UNRWA Commissioner-General Lazzarini noted that although it is very difficult to get the exact number of people killed in the conflict under the war situation, he said, “I do believe that the amount being published [by the Palestinian Health Ministry] gives a reasonably good idea of the scale of the number of people who have been killed in Gaza. And this is horrible.”

The UNRWA chief called the ongoing conflict “unprecedented in scale” and the “level of destruction. He said, “It’s unprecedented when you think that in six months more than 30,000 people have been killed. We know that among them there are 13,000 children. We know that there were more children killed in Gaza in six months than in all the conflicts across the world in the last four years.”

Lazzarini added, “I’m not even sure that this number captures all those who are still under the rubble because most of the time the number of people dead are reported and recorded through hospital facilities. So, I would say that the proportion given unfortunately might be close to the reality. It could even be higher or could be in disproportion. And I do believe that it’s not an overestimate.”

Children face shattered lives in #Gaza: at least 17,000 are unaccompanied or separated from their family & with +70% of houses damaged or destroyed, most of have also lost their homes.

Schools have become shelters for surviving, not for education. Their future needs protecting. pic.twitter.com/w0TVSO8wtj

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 28, 2024

On April 27 Lazzarini posted on his social media that two children died due to the extreme heat as Gaza has been undergoing an “unusual heatwave” over the past few days. “This made the already inhumane living conditions even worse for 1.5 million people, mostly living under plastic sheets in Rafah,” he added.

UNRWA is the largest organization with the highest reach to displaced communities in Gaza. It supports about 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operations: Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

Last week the UNRWA reported that the organization requires about $1.21 billion to respond to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza and address the needs of people in the West Bank as Israel continues its attacks on the civilian population.

According to the UNRWA release the United Nations relief agency seeks to “respond to the most urgent needs of 1.7 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip” and more than “200,000 Palestine Refugees in the West Bank”.

Lazzarini said, “The scars of war are seen on a massive scale in Gaza. Meanwhile, violence is increasing in the West Bank. It is critical to support UNRWA in providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance and development services in health and education. The past months proved that there is no replacement or alternative to UNRWA.”

Last month the United Nations official social media account posted that Israel is blocking the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) workers from delivering aid in northern Gaza. The Israeli forces have been targeting aid workers providing assistance to the people of Gaza.

In March 2024, the United States passed the foreign aid spending bill for 2024 limiting its funding to the UN agency until March 2025. In response, the UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Lazzarini said, “There will be widespread consequences for Palestine refugees in Gaza and the region” following the newly passed U.S. foreign aid spending bill for 2024. Lazzarini added that “Palestine refugees are counting on the international community to increase its support to meet their basic needs”.