2023-11-24 07:58:00
Based in Jerusalem, the spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) highlights the heavy human toll of the ongoing escalation of violence in Gaza. Jonathan Crickx details at “Point” what his organization is doing to help the Palestinian civilian populations.
Point : Israeli children have not been spared by terrorists. Thirty-three children were killed by Hamas on October 7. Around forty others were taken hostage. How did Unicef react at the time of the Hamas attack?
Jonathan Crickx : For us, things are very clear. We have said it again and again. Nothing justifies the death or kidnapping of children. We strongly condemned the attacks and hostage-taking of October 7. We demanded the immediate and unconditional release of children who were detained in the Gaza Strip. And we are happy that they can go out [treize femmes et enfants sont susceptibles d’être libérés le 24 novembre selon le Hamas, NDLR].
Little is said about the injured. Do you know how many minors are among the 5,400 injured in the attacks in southern Israel?
We do not have this data, because the detailed assessment, in particular of the injured, from the Israeli authorities has not been communicated.
The Hamas Ministry of Health regularly sends you statistical data.
Data reported by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health [qui reprend strictement celles du Hamas, NDLR] reported, as of November 22, 12,700 Palestinians killed, including 5,350 children. 29,000 people were injured, including 9,000 children. At least 3,600 people, including 1,750 children, are missing. The escalation of hostilities in Gaza is proving to be the deadliest for children in more than twenty years.
In Syria, according to figures published by your organization, 12,000 children and not 5,700 were killed…
For Syria, this toll results from clashes that took place from 2011 to 2020. In Gaza, we reached this figure in just six weeks.
READ ALSO Hamas-Israel: what you need to know about the hostages and the truceWhat credit can we give to the Hamas statistics that you reproduce in your press releases?
A quick reminder of our working methods is necessary here. Whether in Syria, Afghanistan or Gaza, we rely on a range of different sources: local health authorities but also many other partners on the ground. What we have been able to observe during the various escalations of violence in recent years is that there is very little difference between the figures which are reported at the time, in particular by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and the figures which are subsequently verified by us. If we take the outbreak of violence in 2014, for example, the difference between the results reported then and the statistics which were verified afterwards…, the concordance is very strong.
So let’s take the data from 2014. How many deaths were reported then and how many were verified?
The reported figures were 630 children killed. After verification by the various United Nations agencies, the published figures showed the deaths of 540 miners.
READ ALSO Macron calls on Netanyahu about “too many civilian casualties” in GazaWhat can your agency do to prevent this tragedy?
Our role is to help children around the world. And, more specifically in crisis areas such as conflicts. Our primary action is to recall that international law insists on the necessary protection of civilians. As children are particularly vulnerable, they must benefit from special protection measures from all parties.
We remind all belligerents of their duty in this area. No child of any kind should be exposed to violence. Whether it is the violence that we observed in Israel with the terrible attacks of October 7 or the violence to which Palestinian children are exposed today. This is why we called for the release of the hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.
Are you linking the two issues: the cessation of hostilities and the release of the hostages?
Our plea is an appeal to all parties and at all levels to achieve the release of the hostages and the cessation of hostilities.
READ ALSO What the International Red Cross is doing in GazaWhat were Unicef’s concrete actions on site?
1.5 million people have been internally displaced, half of them women and children. These people live in particularly difficult living conditions. We had prepositioned food to help them, but it was not enough. Since October 21, more than 78 Unicef trucks have returned to Gaza through Egypt to transport water, food, medical supplies and hygiene kits. But also fuel oil to operate the generators of hospitals and schools, because the supply of electricity depends on it. Other trucks are waiting at the Rafah point to bring more medical supplies and drinking water.
Where were these foodstuffs delivered in Gaza?
UNICEF transported these foodstuffs to the areas of Deir Al Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah to meet the needs of the civilian population. We delivered 30 solid waste containers and cleaning services to some shelters to prevent the spread of chronic diseases. The situation is alarming. 337,000 children are at risk of wasting and more than 6,800 suffer from severe acute malnutrition. To meet their needs, we made boxes of therapeutic food available and distributed boxes of powdered milk to feed more than 13,000 infants. We have also provided nutritional supplements to more than 105,000 breastfeeding mothers. Added to this is a shipment of nine trucks with essential supplies to ensure continuity of care for a week for 94,000 people in three hospitals in the region.
Do you have a lot of staff on site?
Between thirty and forty people who operate rotations in the camps and hospitals. They work in extremely difficult conditions.
Do you have representatives in Al-Shifa Hospital?
Two members of Unicef went to Al-Shifa hospital with their colleagues from the World Health Organization and UNRWA to allow the evacuation of around thirty premature babies to a second hospital in Gaza and then Egypt.
Did this staff inform you of the militarization of this health establishment?
They focus on assessing the needs of health teams to determine what type of humanitarian aid should be sent. They do not have the expertise to conduct such an analysis.
Did they tell you about the presence of Hamas fighters in the hospital premises?
We are unable to comment on this point. This is not our mandate.
If I insist, it is because the images transmitted by the Israeli army show the presence of weapons stocks in this hospital. CCTV cameras also filmed members of Hamas bringing hostages to the site. Furthermore, Hamas published another video where we see a commando storming the Rantisi pediatric hospital.
We insist that we remind all parties to this conflict of their obligations to protect not only children and civilians, but also the health infrastructures that accommodate them.
READ ALSO Hamas-Israel war: IDF says it discovered 55-meter tunnel under al-Chifa hospitalAre United Nations personnel able to speak out against armed groups?
Our obligations of neutrality and impartiality prevent us from targeting one party rather than another, but our position is clear on this point.
You are therefore not able to tell us whether military equipment was found by your staff in UN hospitals or schools. Any more than you can confirm to us that members of Hamas, notably equipped with rocket launchers, are moving around Gaza surrounded by swarms of children as we see on videos?
We have not been able to verify this information and we stick to the principled position that I have just expressed.
In Syria, your organization highlighted the fact that 5,700 children had been recruited into the fighting – some as young as 7 years old. What about in Gaza?
We will investigate this question. The outbreak of hostilities is still too recent for us to have any information on this point. We lack perspective.
We see, in old Hamas videos, toddlers indoctrinated from a very young age, parading in uniform and armed in Gaza. And, already in 2014, associations mentioned the fact that Hamas was using children as human shields. What does Unicef say about it?
I’m going to look at what’s been published at the moment. I only arrived in Jerusalem in February 2023.
Your Executive Director, Catherine Russell, visited recently. What could she have seen?
Our executive director actually visited several infrastructures in southern Gaza on November 14. Notably Al-Naser Hospital in Khan Yunis, where she met displaced patients and families seeking shelter and safety. She published a communiqué recalling in the strongest possible terms the position of Unicef. Like the Secretary General of the United Nations, we note that we are here facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the last twenty years and we call for the implementation of an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Emmanuel Macron offered to accommodate injured Palestinian children in French hospitals. How many could have been transferred?
Effectively. The President of the Republic made this offer. To my knowledge, no Palestinian child has, to date, been welcomed in France.
You detailed the actions taken to help refugee children in Gaza. What about displaced children in Israel? Is Unicef mobilizing for these populations? Remember that 20,000 Israelis also had to leave their homes to escape missiles coming from South Lebanon and the Gaza Strip…
UNICEF-Palestine’s mandate is to provide development and humanitarian aid to Palestinian children. UNICEF, at a global level, can provide support to Israeli civilians, but for this to happen the State of Israel must request it.
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