Urgent Appeal for the Children in Gaza

John Ging, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, recently described  the Gaza health system as being in a "pathetic state" and said that European prisoners had better access to basic services than the innocent residents of the coastal Strip.

Gaza, completely dependent upon Israel for fuel, electricity, and border movement is being held together by the international community, while at the same time, its residents are being punished and live on the brink of a humanitarian crisis.  Children are bearing the brunt of this tragedy where the flow of food and medicines has been severed from the population significantly impeding the well-being of the child.

Kinder USA is deeply concerned by the high number of innocent civilians killed in the recent Israeli military incursion.  Since the beginning of the violence carrying over five days thus far, over 120 people have been killed in Gaza, including 39 children. Human rights groups and medical officials indicated that more than a third of the victims were women and children. “Once again, children are bearing the brunt of this crisis while the world remains silent,” said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, Chairperson of Kinder USA.  Of the 1.5 million people in Gaza, over half are children. (Read the latest report on Gaza from an alliance of NGO's working in the region pdf).

The Ongoing Siege in Gaza

The continued blockade of fuel into Gaza that is  crippling the population and has paralyzed hospitals, bakeries, water, and daily life with massive power outages.  The ongoing blockade has plunged Gaza into darkness and is jeopardizing the lives of over 860,000 children, women, and men.  The opening of the crossing with Egypt offered some Gazan’s one of the first opportunities for breathing space in months, and for some a lifetime.  There is no end in sight with families are living at subsistent levels further aggravated by the Israeli Supreme Court rejection of human rights group challenges to the sanctions giving a green light for further strangulation of the population.   

Reporting from the World Health Organization indicate that 72% of the children and 42% of pregnant women suffer from anemia while 30% of children under 5 suffer from stunted growth which is most likely attributed to malnutrition. Over 80% of the population are reported to be food insecure (cannot afford a balanced meal) compared to 63% in 2006.  Out of 9000 commodities (including food items) that were entering Gaza over two years ago, only 20 are ‘permitted’ today further exasperating an already catastrophic situation. 50 trucks a day are now allowed to enter Gaza compared to 200/300 per day.  Malnutrition, needless to say, is increasing.   The situation will certainly continue to deteriorate with Gaza experiencing a 24% electricity deficit coupled with rolling blackouts leaving children in the dark as long as 12 hours per day.  Hospitals have reduced their services to only urgent care patients as their fuel supplies run dangerously low. Returning from Gaza, a member of the European Parliament stated, ". . .it is the civilians who suffer from the siege. Seeing the tiny premature babies in their incubators in Shifa Hospital brought that message home. Israel has been cutting electricity supplies to Gaza. If the generator this hospital was now dependent on was to break down, the 30 babies would die within half an hour."