A man and woman walk carrying children past the rubble of a building hit by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 31, 2023. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
New York: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the number of child martyrs in Gaza and the West Bank has reached 5,143 since the seventh of last October as a result of the continuous Israeli raids.
The OCHA report quoted the Palestinian Ministry of Health as saying that the number of children martyred as a result of the Israeli aggression on Gaza reached 3,900, in addition to the 1,200 children missing under the rubble among the dead.
The New York-based OCHA indicated that the number of martyred children in the West Bank killed by Israel reached 43, including one child killed by settlers.
For its part, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) expects a rise in maternal and newborn deaths in the Gaza Strip due to lack of access to adequate care.
UNRWA said in a series of publications that "Women, children and newborns in Gaza are disproportionately bearing the burden of the escalation of hostilities."
"Maternal deaths are expected to increase given the lack of access to adequate care," UNRWA added.
While the tragedy continues, UNRWA stressed that the number of Palestinian martyrs in Gaza has become staggering, noting that the lack of supplies, the ongoing Israeli bombing, and the interruption of communications make humanitarian relief very difficult.
UNRWA affirmed that queuing to get bread has become worrying and unsafe after the Israeli occupation bombed about ten bakeries in Gaza.
The number of martyrs in Gaza as of Saturday evening reached 9,485, including 2,430 women and 572 elderly people, in addition to 3,900 male and female children.
In the West Bank, the number of victims reached 136 martyrs in addition to 2,300 wounded, including 241 children, in addition to 62 wounded by settlers supported by the occupation forces.
As for the displaced, their number in Gaza exceeded 1.5 million, while their number in the West Bank reached 905 people, including 356 children. An additional 120 Palestinians, including 55 children, were displaced in Area C and occupied Jerusalem.
