The United Nations reports up to 3,000 children have been killed so far in the Gaza Strip, with thousands more injured and needing medical attention. But there's no way out of Gaza for treatment so far. CGTN reporter Liu Jiaxin speaks with Patsy Nakell, communication manager of UNICEF.
LIU JIAXIN Beijing "The United Nations estimates 50,000 women are pregnant in Gaza, with more than 160 giving birth every day. What's the latest dire situation facing pregnant women and children? What life-threatening challenges do they face?"
PATSY NAKELL Communication Manager, UNICEF "As we move into the third week of the hostilities in the Gaza Strip, there is really nowhere safe for the civilian population which totals about 2.2 million people. We have pregnant women for instance. They wake up with their babies feeling the vibrations of the shelling every day, every single step that they take is kind of a race against death. We also know that we have over 100 newborn babies in intensive care units in the Gaza Strip in different hospitals of which many of them are incubators and these rely on a constant and uninterrupted supply of electricity, and electricity is run by generators that need fuel. Now if we don't get fuel quickly enough, I'm afraid that we are going to start seeing many of those babies severely impacted even facing death."
LIU JIAXIN Beijing "UNICEF is calling for improved accessibility of humanitarian supplies to Gaza. What essential necessities do the people of Gaza need? How much are they actually receiving?"
PATSY NAKELL Communication Manager, UNICEF "We managed to get in a total of 14 trucks since the Rafa border slightly opened up in the past four or five days. That is woefully insufficient. We need as our secretary general has said at least 100 trucks going in every day and right now we've only managed as a total to bring in 74 trucks. This is simply not enough. And the civilian population has been suffering long enough and will continue to suffer unless the situation on the ground changes immediately."
LIU JIAXIN Beijing "While people are suffered from the lack of necessities, is there a risk of the rate of child fatalities rising? Have UNICEF's calls for a ceasefire been taken seriously?"
PATSY NAKELL Communication Manager, UNICEF "We have up to 3,000 children reportedly killed so far in the Gaza Strip and over 6,000 children injured and wounded and needing medical attention. We see that the rate of fatalities and injuries and casualties is around 400 a day for children and this is unacceptable. Every single one of those children is a light, is a precious light that must not be extinguished and we are simply seeing extremely dark days."
LIU JIAXIN Beijing "Given the limited medical resources in Gaza, is it currently possible to transport injured individuals, especially children, out of Gaza for treatment?"
PATSY NAKELL Communication Manager, UNICEF "Unfortunately the flow going out of Gaza is entirely restricted. At the moment we are not able to take out children. So this is we are extremely concerned as UNICEF so far."
LIU JIAXIN Beijing "We've noticed that the international response to the Gaza crisis has exposed deep divisions between and inside countries. What's your take on this? And what do you think is human's top responsibility across Global community at this moment?"
PATSY NAKELL Communication Manager, UNICEF "Yes well you know there are different parts of the United Nations that deal with more political questions for UNICEF's sake. And I think for all of our sake we should unify around a single thing that children should be saved, children should not be exposed to the violence and to the death and hostilities that they currently are facing, wherever they are, whoever they may be, whatever race and whatever religion that they have. Every single child is worth saving and we should all get together around that. I think we all agree at least around that."
LIU JIAXIN Beijing "100% agree with you. Thank you Ms Passy for taking our interview."
PATSY NAKELL Communication Manager, UNICEF "Thanks so much."
