UNICEF official James Elder describes horror in Gaza

22 March 2024 Quoted in the Guardian

James Elder describes children on the brink of death and families desperate for clean water, food and shelter

“The depth of the horror surpasses our ability to describe it,” said James Elder, a spokesperson with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

“As soon as you drive through the north, you get that universal gesture of hunger of people putting their hands to their mouths. A lot of children, women with very gaunt faces. In [the city of] Khan Younis, there is utter annihilation.

“I’ve not seen that level of devastation in 20 years with the UN. People’s coping capacity in the north has been smashed and in the south it is hanging by a thread,” Elder said in an interview on Friday.

Elder said that he saw a dozen “skeletal” children at Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza.

“We are seeing severe malnutrition cases … Children who are on the brink of death, just skin and bones … and these are the ones who have managed to get to hospital. There is a real fear for those that can’t,” Elder said. “This is man-made and preventable.”

Medical staff at the hospital worked 36-hour shifts and then joined their families to search for clean water, food or shelter, Elder said.

– Quoted in the Guardian

23 March 2024: James Elder at Rafah Crossing: James Elder: “They don’t need airdrops and seaports, they need Israel to stop blocking aid.”

James Elder quoted in Anadolu: it is a war on children

Quoted in Anadolu

Speaking to an Anadolu, Elder said he visited Gaza for the second time since the Oct. 7 attacks, noting “a lot of desperation, a lot of exhaustion among people.”

Elder emphasized the dire situation of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, which particularly deals with injured children.

“Nasser Hospital, which was such a critical hospital functioning, particularly, for wounded children, is no longer operational,” he said.

He added: “I have visited two more hospitals today, and the hospitals are very busy. Hospital staff always talk about lack of medical supplies.”

Pointing out that UNICEF has been able to deliver a significant amount of medical supplies to hospitals, and emphasizing the need to deliver more aid to northern Gaza, the official said: “More than 20 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are simply not functioning.”

“UNICEF called this ‘a war against children.’ Normally, in all wars, children are the most vulnerable. Around 20% of casualties are children in wars, but in Gaza, it is close to 40%. More than 10,000 children have been killed, and the numbers keep going up. We do not know how many are under the rubble. This is absolutely devastating for children. Many children are hungry, and a famine is imminent.”

‘Gaza is no place for children right now’

Elder noted that children in Gaza are exposed to a lot of psychological stress, stating that the only way to treat these children starts “with a cease-fire.”

“Until a cease-fire, these children will continue to live in a war zone. Gaza is not a place for children right now, but there are more than a million children here. So, we have to get a cease-fire, and then ensure that they get all the care they need,” he said.

Quoted in Anadolu