UNICEF chief: Gaza war ‘taking unimaginable toll on children’
Catherine Russell, the head of the UN’s fund for supporting children (UNICEF), says the war on Gaza must end and has warned of further devastation for Palestinian children as Israel promises an invasion of Rafah.
“Over 200 days of war have already killed or maimed tens of thousands of children in Gaza. For hundreds of thousands of children in the border city of Rafah, there is added fear of an escalated military operation that would bring catastrophe on top of catastrophe for children,” she said in a video message.
“Nearly all of the some 600,000 children now crammed into Rafah are either injured, sick, malnourished, traumatised or living with disabilities.”
The war in Gaza is taking an unimaginable toll on children.
In Rafah, a city of children, the impact of a further escalation would be devastating.
The lives of children must be protected.
All the hostages must be released.
The nightmare for so many families must end. pic.twitter.com/5kOye5VySZ
— Catherine Russell (@unicefchief) May 1, 2024
Palestinian children thank US students for demonstrations
Palestinian children have been recording videos of themselves thanking US students for demonstrations calling for an end to the devastating war on Gaza.
“We, the people of Gaza, are very happy when we see American students standing with us,” a young Palestinian student says in this video shared by the Palestine Action protest network.
The students can be seen acknowledging and thanking those taking part in major protests across some of the top universities in the US and elsewhere, including UCLA, Emory, and George Washington University.
Students in Gaza thank the students and Palestine Action for taking action against global complicity with the genocide.
They are the ones who inspire us everyday to increase our actions for a #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/QYSRQAWTOr
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) May 1, 2024
New Yorkers rally in support of Palestine on May Day
A large crowd gathered today at New York City’s Foley Square for a protest entitled “Student and Workers Unite for Palestine”.
Posts from protest organisers say that this rally is being held in sympathy not only with Palestinians in Gaza, as they continue to endure Israel’s ongoing military campaign, but also with students on US university campuses, who are currently facing harsh police crackdowns as they demand their institutions divest from business ties with Israel.
🚨BREAKING! Thousands of people are rallying for Palestine in Foley Sq, NYC. Invigorated by the student movement and steadfast in the struggle against genocide despite NYPD repression, students and workers unite to call for a FREE PALESTINE this May Day! #ShutItDown4Palestine pic.twitter.com/c2CjaI3Ygv
— The People's Forum (@PeoplesForumNYC) May 1, 2024
