New casualties in Gaza's Khan Younis amid UN warnings of child crisis
31 May 2025 09:14
GAZA (WAM)At least 13 Palestinians, including children and women, were killed on Friday in an Israeli attack on Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli drones targeted a tent sheltering displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area of northern Khan Younis, resulting in the deaths of 13 civilians, including at least three children and several women. Another woman was reportedly shot dead in the city.According to Palestinian medical sources, the ongoing Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip has raised the total death toll to 54,321, with 123,770 injured since October 7, 2023.Meanwhile, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) revealed that more than 50,000 Palestinian children have been killed or injured since October 2023, averaging one child every 20 minutes.In a statement, UNICEF said that since the end of the ceasefire on March 18, 1,309 children have been killed and 3,738 injured.The organisation renewed its call to end the violence, protect civilians—including children—uphold international humanitarian and human rights law, ensure the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid, and release all hostages.Separately, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) warned that Gaza is in urgent need of continuous humanitarian assistance. It confirmed that its warehouses in Amman hold enough supplies to feed more than 200,000 people for a month.UNRWA criticised the current US-backed aid distribution system, describing it as deeply flawed and forcing residents to travel long distances, thereby risking what it called a 'second Nakba' due to potential forced displacement.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini described the system as 'a waste of resources and a distraction from the atrocities', calling for unrestricted access for humanitarian organisations to operate freely.
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