UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, described the situation of children in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as "extremely worrying," stressing that all of them are affected in one way or another by the consequences of the conflict.

At the conclusion of a four-day mission to the West Bank and Gaza, Beigbeder said in a statement published Sunday on the UNICEF website that some children in the region live in "extreme fear and anxiety," while others suffer "the real consequences of being denied humanitarian assistance and protection, or of displacement, destruction, or death."

"Almost all of the 2.4 million children living across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip are affected in some way," he added.

He continued in his statement: "Without aid entering the Gaza Strip, nearly one million children are once again living without the basics they need to survive."

He continued, "Unfortunately, approximately 4,000 newborns are currently unable to receive essential life-saving care due to the severe impact on medical facilities in the Gaza Strip. Every day without ventilators, lives are lost, particularly among vulnerable premature newborns in northern Gaza."

The UNICEF official noted that there are more than 180,000 doses of essential childhood vaccines located a few dozen kilometers outside the Gaza Strip, sufficient to fully vaccinate and protect 60,000 children under the age of two, in addition to 20 ventilators for neonatal intensive care units.

He called for these life-saving health supplies to be allowed into the country, saying, "There is no reason why this should not happen."

"Before it's too late"

In his statement, UNICEF's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa stressed the need to meet the basic needs of civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law, adding, "This requires facilitating the delivery of life-saving aid, whether there is a ceasefire or not."

A ceasefire in Gaza took effect on January 19, but was marred by some shelling. Israel has been preventing any aid from entering the Strip since March 2.

Beigbeder stressed that any further delay in aid delivery risks slowing or shutting down essential services and could quickly undo the gains made for children during the ceasefire.

"We need to get these supplies to children, including newborns, before it's too late. We must keep essential services running," he said.

The official expressed his regret over the power outage at the UNICEF-supported desalination plant in Khan Yunis, Gaza, noting that it had been the only facility receiving electricity since last November, before it was now cut off.

In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, he noted that more than 200 Palestinian children have been killed since October 2023, "the highest number recorded in this period in the past two decades."

He concluded his statement by saying, "Tens of thousands of children have been killed and injured. We must not return to a situation that drives these numbers even higher."