Two truckloads of urgently needed medical supplies have been
delivered to Gaza, where scores of Palestinians were injured
during demonstrations along the border fence with Israel earlier
this week.
The drugs and medical equipment delivered by the UN Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) and partners, include antibiotics, saline solution
and syringes to treat an estimated 70,000 people.
Over the past six weeks, Palestinians have been demonstrating
against the decade-long blockade on Gaza, but Monday’s protests
were the deadliest with nearly 60 killed and more than 1,300
injured.
UNICEF reported that medical facilities there are “buckling under
the strain” of dealing with the additional casualties as the
health system was already weakened due to shortages of fuel,
medicine and equipment.
The agency added that the intensifying violence in Gaza has also
worsened the plight of children “whose lives have already been
unbearably difficult for many years”.
UNICEF said more than 1,000 children have been injured in
violence since the start of the protests, and “many of these
injuries are severe and potentially life-altering, including
amputations”.
“Children should be protected, not targeted, used in violence or
put in risky situations,” said the agency, and called on all
actors within the occupied territories “to put in place specific
measures to keep children out of harm’s way and avoid child
casualties”.
Half of all children depend on humanitarian assistance in the
Gaza Strip, and one in four, need psychosocial care. Families
receive four to five hours of electricity each day and 90 per
cent have no direct access to clean water.
