“These children are dying from airstrikes and drone attacks, including suicide drones,” he said, speaking from Gaza City. “They die by tank shelling, they are killed by live ammunition, they are killed by (remote controlled) quadcopters.”
Elder noted that more children have also died from hypothermia in recent days, as harsh winter conditions expose the most vulnerable Gazans.
The cold kills six children
“We’ve reached six children who died of hypothermia just this winter,” he said. “I wish I could take a camera and show you 30 to 40 kilometer (per hour) winds hitting the tents on the beach. It’s terribly cold and terribly wet.”
The UNICEF spokesperson stressed that the ceasefire has allowed “real progress” in primary health care, with UNICEF and its partners establishing the first health clinics in the north of the Strip and expanding immunization services.
But desperately needed medical evacuations of children remain stalled.
Elder noted that “there is no notable improvement” either in approvals to remove children with life-threatening injuries from Gaza or in convincing more host countries to take in the young patients.
He said that on his last mission to the enclave, he spoke with many children and families who were denied evacuation despite completing an arduous and formal process.
Among them was a nine-year-old boy with shrapnel lodged in his eye who “will lose sight in one eye, maybe both,” a girl at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City who “could very well die,” and another boy whose leg needs to be amputated. “All three are absolute candidates for medical evacuation; all three have been denied so far,” Elder explained.
Before war broke out in Gaza following Hamas-led attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, between 50 and 100 patients were evacuated from the enclave each day, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).
In an alert published Tuesday, the agency warned that extensive authorization procedures by Israeli authorities continue to cause delays in deliveries of medicine and food.
“Some essential medical items are classified as ‘dual use’ and are denied entry,” the WHO said in a post on X, referring to goods that are intended primarily for civilian use but that Israeli authorities believe could be diverted by Hamas or other militant groups for military purposes.
International NGO ban looming
The UNICEF spokesperson also highlighted the dangers of a recent Israeli ban on international NGOs, which will come into force next month and will mean “blocking life-saving assistance”, he alleged. Elder also highlighted the importance of allowing international media to enter the enclave, something that has not been granted despite the ceasefire.
“There needs to be much more pressure to allow international journalists to enter,” he said. “This is my seventh mission (to Gaza) and every time I see the 360-degree devastation and the flattening of houses, my jaw drops.”
“Yesterday was absolutely as amazing as it was the first time I saw it over two years ago,” he insisted.
Mr. Elder warned that two years of war “has made life unimaginably hard for Gaza’s children,” explaining that “the psychological damage remains untreated and becomes deeper and more difficult to heal the longer it lasts.”
“A ceasefire that stops the bombing is progress, but one that continues to bury children is not enough,” he concluded.