In a statement issued after her visit to Gaza, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Catherine Russell, described what she saw and heard in the Gaza Strip as "horrific." Russell explained that she met children, families and UNICEF workers in Gaza.

Russell stressed that the amount of humanitarian aid allowed to enter Gaza is largely insufficient to meet the needs.

She added: "What I saw and heard is heartbreaking. They are suffering from continuous bombing, injuries and displacement, and there is no safe place in the Strip for the children of Gaza to return."

Russell confirmed that more than 4,600 children were killed in Gaza, and nearly 9,000 others were injured, in addition to the presence of many children under the rubble of buildings destroyed as a result of the bombing.

She added: “At the same time, newborns who needed special care died as a result of the power outage and the depletion of medical resources in a hospital in Gaza.”

She pointed out that she met at Nasser Hospital in the Khan Yunis area a 16-year-old girl who would never be able to walk again. She said: “The young infants were trying to cling to life in incubators, while the doctors were busy with how to operate the equipment without the availability of fuel in the hospital’s neonatal department.”

She stated that UNICEF employees shared their “tragic” experiences with her, noting that the risks to which humanitarian relief employees are exposed in Gaza cannot be underestimated, and that more than 100 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) have lost their lives since last October.

The UN official renewed her call on all parties "to end this horror and ensure the protection and assistance of children."