UNICEF Ireland has launched an appeal for donations to help send lifesaving supplies to the children in Gaza and Lebanon, where more than one million homeless children now face the threat of disease across the conflict areas. In Gaza, children are dying in their thousands while in Lebanon, they fear the same catastrophic fate.
Up to 40,000 people have lost their lives in Gaza since the conflict started on 7 October 2023, while over 600 have so far died in Lebanon in just one week alone. UNICEF is on the ground providing lifesaving water, medical supplies and blankets, but claims that what children need most now is a ceasefire.
According to the aid agency, this violence is having a traumatic effect on the families that manage to survive. “However, bombs and bullets are only the start of their new terrifying reality. In Gaza, nine in every ten people have been forced from their homes, including almost one million children,” UNICEF notes on its website, which includes donation details.
“In Lebanon, in only a few short weeks, the number of internally displaced people has risen to at least 1.2 million, including 400,000 children. They are forced to live in tents, schools and makeshift shelters. Many have nothing more than the clothes on their backs to keep them warm.
“Hungry, thirsty and afraid, they will now have no option but to drink water contaminated with faeces and will almost certainly contract life threatening polio, cholera or diarrhoea. These children desperately need your help,” according to UNICEF.
Peter Power, Executive Director of UNICEF Ireland, recently reiterated that UNICEF is an independent, non-profit organisation which is helping the children of Gaza, Lebanon and Israel in their new appeal. He described the situation on the ground in Gaza as “hell on earth”, adding that they’re now accepting donations to allow them to continue providing humanitarian aid in the region.
