More children have been reported killed in the war raging in Gaza than in four years of conflict around the world, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday.
“Staggering. The number of children reported killed in just over 4 months in #Gaza is higher than the number of children killed in 4 years of wars around the world combined,” Philippe Lazzarini said on X, formerly Twitter.
His post referenced United Nations numbers showing that 12,193 children had been killed in conflicts worldwide between 2019 and 2022.
It compared that to reports from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza indicating that more than 12,300 children died in the Palestinian territory between last October and the end of February.
“This war is a war on children. It is a war on their childhood and their future,” Lazzarini said.
Israel’s bombardment and ground offensive since October 7 have killed 31,184 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.
On Wednesday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said one of its warehouses in war-ravaged Gaza was hit, amid mounting efforts to bring food to the besieged Palestinian territory.
We can confirm that an UNRWA warehouse/distribution centre in Rafah (southern Gaza) has been hit," the United Nations agency said.
"We do not yet have more information on what exactly happened nor the number of UNRWA staff impacted," agency spokeswoman Juliette Touma told AFP.
"UNRWA uses this facility to distribute much-needed food and other lifesaving items to displaced people in southern Gaza."
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza meanwhile said four people were killed in the "bombing of the warehouse."
It came as donor nations, aid agencies and charities pushed on with efforts to rush food to the impoverished territory.
A Spanish charity vessel, the Open Arms, was on its way to Gaza from Cyprus, after setting sail a day earlier towing a barge with 200 tons of aid, in a first voyage meant to open a maritime corridor.
The European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the humanitarian crisis "is man-made."
"If we look at alternative ways to provide support, it's because the land crossings have been artificially closed," he said, charging that "starvation is being used as a weapon of war."