Latest news with #Elder
RTÉ News
a day ago
- Health
- RTÉ News
Aid will be too late when famine hits Gaza, warns UNICEF
Famine is so close in Gaza that when it does hit it will be too late for aid to arrive and there will be mass death, UNICEF's Global spokesperson James Elder has warned. He described what is happening in the Palestinian territory as "abhorrent" and said that when the killing so many children ceases to shock, "then we've gone beyond living in a tragedy. We're complicit in it". The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Elder said that while the global focus is on malnutrition, there are so many children who have been killed and injured that the situation is becoming "normalised". He said humanitarian aid is more than food. "It's hygiene kits. It's obstetric kits. It's incubators, it's wheelchairs, it's blankets, it's vaccines." Mr Elder said people do not know where to go now, describing the whole of Gaza as a combat zone. He added that he has never before seen the suffering that he has witnessed in Gaza. He said: "There's no exaggeration, every single child in this place needs mental health support. It's night after night of bombardment. There's not a child here who doesn't know someone who's been killed, who hasn't seen the most ghastly ghastly wounds." In relation to the Israeli aid blockade, Mr Elder said that every time the world's most reputable body on nutrition says how close the population is to famine, "then authorities just loosen the noose a little bit and a bit of aid is allowed to come in. "And then when international attention dissipates, it's tightened once more. When famine hits, it will be too late. Famine is a statistical definition that means mass death. "Starvation, starvation is different. Starvation is when the body starts eating itself, when you get cognitive decline. Starvation's happening here right now, children's bodies are not waiting for some global declaration," he said. Mr Elder said the focus now is on is on malnutrition and "suddenly the daily killing ... of girls and boys seems to be something that people don't dwell on."
Middle East Eye
3 days ago
- General
- Middle East Eye
Gaza's children face hunger and grief instead of Eid joy, says Unicef
Eid al-Adha, a time meant for unity and celebration, has become a day of despair for children in Gaza, according to the UN children's agency. James Elder, spokesperson for Unicef, said the festive spirit has been overshadowed by tragedy. 'For Gaza's children, Eid is dominated by hunger, by grief, and by the silence of missing voices,' he said in a video message posted online. Elder condemned the dire humanitarian conditions in the besieged enclave, warning that barely any aid is making it through. 'Let us demand that aid flow freely,' he urged, noting that the current trickle falls far short of what Palestinians need to survive.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Watch Mamaroneck and Scarsdale in Section 1 Class A championship
Watch the final point as St. Xavier boys volleyball tops Elder in regional final action St. Xavier boys volleyball tops Elder 3-1 in the Division I, Region 4 championship Saturday, May 24, at Mason. Here's the final point. 0:22 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
DW
5 days ago
- Politics
- DW
Gaza: Israel says it recovered bodies of 2 hostages – DW – 06/05/2025
06/05/2025 June 5, 2025 UNICEF decries private aid program for 'forceable displacement of a population' DW spoke with James Elder of UNICEF on the current humanitarian situation in Gaza as the US and Israel introduce a controversial new, private aid distribution system that has been temporarily shut down after the Israeli military carried out three deadly shootings at its distribution points. The UN has accused the two nations of having made "deliberate choices to deprive people in Gaza of the essentials to survive," after throwing UN and international aid groups out of Gaza and replacing them with centralized distribution centers operated by the privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). When speaking of the role played by UN humanitarian aid organizations, UNICEF's Elder said, "we know what works, we just have to be allowed to do it." Elder said the US and Israel plan of centralizing aid distribution has resulted in the "forceable displacement of a population," criticizing the fact that people were being drawn into military conflict zones due to the limited number of distribution sites and the fact that these are guarded by Israeli military forces and private US security contractors.
Qatar Tribune
6 days ago
- Health
- Qatar Tribune
UNICEF spokesman ‘shocked' by extent of malnutrition in Gaza
UNICEF spokesman James Elder, currently in Gaza, has described the 'horrors' he witnessed within just 24 hours. Speaking from al-Mawasi, Elder told Al Jazeera that Gaza's hospitals and streets are filled with malnourished children. 'I'm seeing teenage boys in tears, showing me their ribs,' he said, noting that children were pleading for food. He described people so desperate that they walk kilometres to aid centres – despite knowing 'massacres' have recently taken place there. 'Imagine knowing there'd be a massacre, but being so desperate to feed your family that you still go,' he said, blaming the Israel-US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation for enabling the violence and then shutting down operations without delivering enough aid. (Agencies)
