Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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September 16, 2025 Humanitarian aid
As Israel continues to bomb Gaza City as part of its escalating military offensive, families with starving children are being forced to move south, from one "hell" to another, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
The Israeli military has stepped up its offensive on the city, ordering residents to evacuate. UNICEF representative Tess Ingram, based in the southern enclave, called the forced displacement of families a "mortal threat" to Gaza's most vulnerable residents.
"To expect nearly half a million children, exhausted and traumatised by more than 700 days of ongoing conflict, to leave one hell for another is inhumane," she said.
150 thousand people moved to the south of the sector in a month
UN partners monitoring the movement of people in Gaza have recorded nearly 70,000 movements south in the past few days and nearly 150,000 in the past month, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The only accessible route, the Al-Rashid road, is congested.
Ingram described meeting a mother who had walked more than six hours from Gaza City south with her five children, "exhausted by thirst and hunger," two of whom were shoeless.
She said they, along with tens of thousands of other children, were being sent to a "so-called humanitarian zone" covering al-Mawasi and surrounding areas.
"Sea of Despair"
A UNICEF spokeswoman described the destination of Palestinians evacuating Gaza City as "a sea of makeshift tents and human despair." She stressed that there are not enough resources to even support the hundreds of thousands of people already living there.
The problem of malnutrition among children in the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly acute, Ingram continued, noting that UNICEF estimates that about 26,000 children in the enclave currently require treatment for the effects of malnutrition, more than 10,000 in Gaza City alone.
Food centers are closed
A UNICEF spokeswoman said the escalation in fighting and evacuation orders this week in Gaza City had forced more feeding centres to close, leaving many children without access to much-needed food aid.
While humanitarian organizations remain in Gaza and continue their operations, “with every bombing and every denial [of aid], it becomes more difficult for them to operate,” Ingram stressed.
According to OCHA, as of last Sunday, humanitarian teams were attempting to organize 17 missions in coordination with the Israeli authorities. In the end, only four were supported, seven were refused, and others encountered obstacles on the ground or were cancelled.
Ingram described the dilemma facing desperate Gazans: “to stay in danger or to flee to a place they know is dangerous.” She recalled that al-Mawasi was attacked about two weeks ago, killing eight children, the youngest three, while queuing for water.
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