At least 16 children killed or injured in Ukraine every week: UNICEF
In Ukraine, 16 children are killed or injured every week, almost 1,000 days into Russia’s full-scale invasion.
That’s the grim update from UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, which said on Monday that more than 2,400 children have been killed or injured since 24 February 2022, citing the latest available verified reports.
In addition to the child casualties, millions of children continue to have their lives upended amid ongoing attacks by Russian forces, which included a weekend of coordinated, heavy strikes on power infrastructure in Kyiv, Donetsk, Lviv and Odesa, that reportedly left 10 dead.
Last week’s victims included a mother and her three children who died in a strike on a residential building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, according to UNICEF.
Children have also been “killed in their beds, in hospitals and playgrounds, leaving families devastated by the loss of young lives or life-altering injuries”, said UNICEF chief Catherine Russell.
Gaza: Condemnation for deadly strike on apartment block
To Gaza, where a massive Israeli strike on a block of flats in the north of the enclave has “killed dozens”; it’s prompted outrage from humanitarians and the UN’s top Middle East negotiator.
In a statement, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said that he was “appalled” by the overnight strike at the weekend on a multi-storey residential building housing displaced Palestinian families in Beit Lahia.
Children were among the dead, Mr. Wennesland said, while in a related development, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend.
Out of 109 trucks in the convoy which entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom in the south of the enclave, 97 “were lost and drivers were forced at gunpoint to unload aid”.
With more, here’s Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, speaking in Geneva:
“I confirm indeed, that they have been looting, more than 100 trucks have been looted, primarily UNRWA and the WFP. Basically, 80-90 per cent of the convoy on that day. What does it show? Well, we have been warning a long time ago about the total breakdown of civil order; until you know, four or five months ago, we still had local capacity, people who were escorting the convoy. This has completely gone.”
Mr. Lazzarini insisted that Israeli efforts to dismantle the agency would have terrible consequences for Gazans who rely on UNRWA for education, healthcare and livelihoods, unless a viable alternative were put in place.
He also warned that the diplomatic and political campaign against UNRWA was impacting staff, one of whom was searched at her home by an Israeli soldier, who accused her of working for a terrorist organization.
Lebanon crisis: Culture experts call for stronger safeguards: UNESCO
Amid ongoing deadly Israeli missile strikes in Lebanon, the UN agency tasked with protecting cultural treasures prepared to meet on Monday to discuss new measures to safeguard the country’s many historic sites from destruction.
The meeting of UNESCO’s Special Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict came at the request of Lebanon, which is home to six World Heritage Sites: Baalbek, Byblos, Tyre, Kedisha Valley, Aanjar and Tripoli.
On Sunday, hundreds of cultural experts including museum curators and academics called on UNESCO to designate “no-target zones” around Lebanon’s sites and use measures from the 1954 Hague Convention to protect cultural heritage in conflict.
Its measures include “establishing special units” within “military forces responsible for the protection of cultural property”.
The intensification of Israeli military activity in Lebanon in September against Hezbollah militants has already killed thousands. Last month, shelling in the ancient city of Baalbek also prompted alarm about the city’s three Roman temples.
Daniel Johnson, UN News
Music composed and produced by Joachim Harris. All rights reserved
Source of original article: United Nations (news.un.org). Photo credit: UN. The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of Global Diaspora News (www.globaldiasporanews.com).
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