Beirut, 7 May 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) warned on Monday that a military besiegement and ground incursion in Rafah would pose "catastrophic risks" to the 600,000 children taking shelter there. 

"Rafah is now a city of children, who have nowhere safe to go in Gaza. If large scale military operations start, not only will children be at risk from the violence, but also from chaos and panic, and at a time where their physical and mental states are already weakened,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

Already, more than 14,000 children have been reportedly killed in this current conflict, according to the latest estimate by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

UNICEF said hundreds of thousands of children in Rafah are estimated to have a disability, medical condition or other vulnerability that puts them in even greater jeopardy from the looming military operations in the city.

"Hundreds of thousands of children who are now cramped into Rafah are injured, sick, malnourished, traumatized, or living with disabilities,” said Russell.

She added that many have been displaced multiple times, and have lost homes, parents and loved ones. 

UNICEF reiterated the call of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee for Israel "to fulfil its legal obligation, under international humanitarian and human rights law, to provide food and medical supplies and facilitate aid operations, and on the world’s leaders to prevent an even worse catastrophe from happening."

Photo: MIA archive