The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Sunday called on the international community to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and to ensure access to children across the territory, as humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate a year after the ceasefire was declared.
In a statement, the organisation said 360 children were killed and more than 1,700 others seriously injured since the ceasefire was announced, describing the continued toll among children as a flagrant violation of the agreement.
It noted that conditions in the Strip are becoming increasingly difficult with the arrival of winter and heavy rainfall, worsening the suffering of displaced people, many of whom lack adequate shelter and protection from the cold and rain.
UNICEF said it had scaled up its humanitarian response since the ceasefire, providing health care and safe water to more than one million people, but that the population's humanitarian needs remain far greater than the aid delivered.
It pointed out that the occupation authorities continue to impose restrictions on the entry of essential and necessary materials, including spare parts for water and sanitation systems and shelter supplies, warning that the continuation of these conditions threatens an entire generation of children who have suffered severely over the past years.
The organisation carries out its humanitarian operations in about 80 percent of the Strip's area, while still facing difficulties reaching other areas, and affirmed its continued cooperation with partners and humanitarian organisations to try to meet the population's needs.
