UNICEF communications official Tese Ingram announced today, Friday, that "approximately 20,000 children have been born since the onset of the aggression against Gaza, with a child being born every 10 minutes in this horrific war." She added in a press conference via video from Geneva that "the children born in Gaza since the war began were born into hell, and the situation for pregnant women and newborns in Gaza is unimaginable and requires urgent and intensive action."
She explained that "the situation in the Gaza Strip is already fraught with risks for infant and maternal mortality, with the healthcare system collapsing." The UN official affirmed that "mothers face unimaginable challenges in obtaining adequate medical care, nutrition, and protection before, during, and after childbirth."
She noted that "under conditions of overcrowding and limited resources, staff are forced to discharge mothers from the hospital within three hours of a cesarean section." She emphasized that "the trauma of war also directly affects newborns, leading to increased rates of malnutrition, growth problems, and other health complications."
Ingram mentioned that "pregnant and nursing women and infants are living in inhumane conditions, with makeshift shelters, malnutrition, and unsafe water, putting nearly 135,000 children under the age of two at risk of severe malnutrition."
