Rafah Under Attack

Children in Gaza have survived unimaginable horrors. They’ve lost their parents, their homes and their limbs. Rafah was the last beacon of hope for children who had already endured pure hell.  

And then Rafah came under attack. This is now a tragedy of catastrophic proportions. Nowhere in Gaza is safe for children. 

More than 14,000 children have been killed in Gaza since October last year, 12,000 are reported injured, and currently 10 children lose one or both legs every day.  

The traumatised children who have so far escaped with their lives, are now in even more danger. As their terrified faces stare down the barrels of guns, mortars and tanks, another threat looms even closer. 

Shaam, a 10-year-old girl, suffers from acute malnutrition she is at risk of dying at any moment. Her mum lovingly strokes her head to try and provide some comfort.

Children dying before their families’ eyes 

8,000 children in Gaza have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition, of whom 1,600 are so malnourished that they are at risk of dying of starvation. 

Many children have already died in Gaza from hunger.  

One in every five families are going entire days without food, with almost half a million people, including children, facing catastrophic hunger levels.  

Malnourished children, like Shaam, urgently need life-saving therapeutic food if they are to survive.  Please will you send a live saving gift to desperately hungry children today?  

“Mama”, cries Fadi, “Mama”. 

This time last year, Fadi was a happy, healthy little boy who was looking forward to his sixth birthday. Now, his life hangs by a thread.

Suffering from cystic fibrosis, he can’t absorb food and relies on fortified therapeutic milk, which his mother hasn’t found in five months.

Fadi is now severely malnourished. His skin is drained of color, his backbone shows through his t-shirt, and his arms are like sticks. Every breath is agony, and his body is failing to fight off infections.

Sadly, Fadi’s situation isn’t unique. Right now, 1,600 children in Gaza suffer from severe malnutrition and need immediate treatment to survive.

€150 can provide enough Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to treat 15 children. This “miracle food” can quickly save a child’s life.

Fadi is close to death. He is being treated for severe acute malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. 

Delivering aid in Gaza

Delivering aid in Gaza is a dangerous and difficult task, and yet UNICEF has delivered more than 18,000 pallets of aid since October. 

In April, UNICEF Spokesperson Tess Ingram’s vehicle came under fire while delivering vital aid to malnourished children in northern Gaza.

Ahead of the mission, Tess reported: “We’re going to go to Kamal Adwan hospital (where Fadi is receiving treatment) where we know that children are dying from malnutrition. The mission today has a truck full of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food and high energy biscuits. Then we’re going to the Jabalia Health centre to do the same.”  

They had to turn back after their vehicle was hit by bullets. But they did not give up.   

A few days later they tried again.   

“Our second attempt, and I’m hoping this morning will be more successful. There’s an extra element to today’s mission, and that’s a medical evacuation – which includes one seven-year-old girl who’s got severe acute malnutrition.” Tess told us.  

The mission included ambulances and trucks of aid. “We did it!” Tess confirmed.  

Tess Ingram, UNICEF Spokesperson, on a mission to deliver aid to the north of Gaza. 

UNICEF Won’t Give Up on the Children of Gaza

Our teams on the ground in Gaza are working around the clock to reach as many children as possible with vital, life-saving aid. Despite them being afraid for the lives of their own children and families, they continue to do everything they can to help children suffering.  

UNICEF will continue to load trucks and drive these life-saving supplies across the border at every available opportunity.  

Please, if you can, send a life-saving gift to a child in Gaza today. Your gift will help to save the life a child in Gaza.