The situation in Gaza is on the brink of collapse from disaster | According to UNICEF, the enclave is the most dangerous place to be a child in the world

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) made the request this Thursday The situation in the Gaza Strip went from catastrophic to near collapseWhen the Israeli army destroyed Khan Younis and the main Hamas military headquarters Al-Isra University From Gaza City.

UNICEF Executive Director, Ted SaipanAn interviewee who stayed three days on the Strip assured that Families and children are experiencing some of the worst conditions they have ever seen. “Since my last visit, the situation has gone from disaster to collapse. The Gaza Strip has been described by UNICEF as the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Nearly 25,000 people are said to have died in the Gaza Strip Since the escalation of hostilities, 70% are women and children,” she lamented in a statement.

Sayban noted There are more than 1.9 million displaced people, equivalent to 85% of Gaza's population. He explained that many others were trying to seek refuge in the southern city of Rafah on the border with Egypt. “It is difficult to understand the large number of civilians at the border and the inhumane conditions they live in. “Water scarcity and poor sanitation are inevitable,” he said..

According to statistics shared by the organization, diarrhea cases have increased by 40% in the past two months compared to before the start of the war. However, a 4,000% increase was reached by mid-December, with 71,000 cases reported among children under the age of five.

According to the latest balance sheet of the Kazan Ministry of Health, The total death toll rose to 24,620 and more than 61,830 were injured.Within the framework of Israel's bombing campaign on the Strip, it was in retaliation for a Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 that killed around 1,200 people and took 240 hostages, including 240 Argentines.

Severity of attacks

Meanwhile on the front lines, The Israeli army redoubled its offensive in Khan Yunis, where it destroyed the main Hamas military headquarters in the area., according to a military report. The soldiers kept a large amount of weapons and intelligence documents there, including dozens of hand grenades, AK-47s, ammunition, digging equipment, missiles, RPG missiles, explosives and war management documents. “The battalion complex includes an open and urban combat training area, as well as operational offices used by Hamas terrorists,” the note added.

Although Israel Announced days ago It was able to completely dismantle Hamas's military structure. “With the end of the operation in the north, the main infrastructure of Hamas' military capability has been removed, but there are still pockets of resistance and fighting,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Israeli forces also destroyed the main building of Al-Isra University in Gaza Citydestroyed, the official Palestinian news agency reported WAFA. The company condemned it in a statement The soldiers ransacked the National Museum on the property, which housed an exhibition of some 3,000 rare artefacts..

Since the start of the war, approximately 95 schools and university buildings in Gaza have been completely destroyed, another 295 percent, according to data from the Gazan government communications office. All of this is a death blow to Gaza's education sector and the ability of its population to attend university after the conflict, according to critics and human rights groups.

The hostages were released

For its part, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with some of the freed Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. And the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas called for the release of the remaining abductees, as well as the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for sex crimes during the October 7 attack. A statement issued by the Hostage Families Forum said the meeting took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, according to the newspaper. The Times of Israel.

At the meeting, the Portuguese ambassador took an identity card calling for the release of the hostages from his pocket and said: “The identity card is in the right pocket of my coat, where my hand usually is, and I carry it with me. We must always remember the hostages everywhere.

The freed hostages met in Davos with a large group of executives and businessmen from around the world, to whom they told their stories.. “Most of the people I was in the tunnel with are still kept underground, they are scared and injured (…) there is not enough air to breathe, food or basic hygiene. The body is very weak, any disease can kill you,” Nili Margalit, one of the kidnapped civilians, told the traders.

Another of them, Stella Yanai, said she lost everything when she was abducted. “I lost control of my life, my freedom, my identity, my self. They released me, but I promised my captive friends that I would do everything possible to bring them back,” the woman said.

Of the 240 people abducted in Israel, 132 were held captive in Gaza, 25 of whom are presumed dead and whose bodies have not been recovered to date, according to Israeli officials. About a hundred hostages were freed during a humanitarian ceasefire in late November in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, negotiated by Qatar.