UNITED NATIONS, Nov 16 (APP): A senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official has taunted the head UN children’s agency, who was injured in a road accidents while on her way from Cairo to Gaza, for cancelling her trip to Israel after making a passionate appeal for a ceasefire in the bombed-out enclave.
Apparently the official took UNICEF Chief Catherine Russel’s decision to put off her visit to Israel as a snub to Israel, saying she was using the road accident as an excuse.
A UNICEF spokesperson said that Ms. Russell, an American national, was involved in a traffic accident in Egypt on her way to Gaza in Tuesday, causing the vehicle in which she was riding to flip on its side. “In spite of injuries she sustained in the accident, she elected to continue her visit to Gaza,” the spokesperson said.
“Upon completion of the visit, doctors determined that the injuries she sustained require further care. As a result, she has postponed the rest of her visit to the region,” the UNICEF spokesperson said.
Ms. Russel said Wednesday she had witnessed “devastating” scenes on a visit to Gaza and called for the parties to the conflict to “stop this horror.”
“What I saw and heard was devastating,” UNICEF’s chief wrote in a tweet linking to a press release on her Gaza visit.
“And then you had a ‘car accident’ and you canceled your visit to Israel. Bad faith has no limit,” Israeli Foreign Ministry official Emmanuel Nahshon responded in a tweet of his own.
The Foreign Ministry said Ms. Russell was supposed to visit Israel after her Gaza trip on Tuesday to meet with the families of the hostages held in Gaza but canceled.
In her statement on the trip to Gaza, the UNICEF chief said that Palestinians there “have endured repeated bombardment, loss and displacement.”
“Inside the Strip, there is nowhere safe for Gaza’s one million children to turn,” Ms. Russell said. “The parties to the conflict are committing grave violations against children.
“These include killing, maiming, abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access – all of which UNICEF condemns.”
According to the Palestinian health ministry at least 11,240 people had been killed in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7.
Ms. Russell pointed out that more than 4,600 of those reported killed were children, while nearly 9,000 have reportedly been injured.
“Many children are missing and believed buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings and homes, the tragic result of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas,” she said.
“Meanwhile, newborn babies who require specialized care have died in one of Gaza’s hospitals as power and medical supplies run out, and violence continues with indiscriminate effect.”
Ms. Russell reiterated her call “on all parties to ensure that children are protected and assisted, as per international humanitarian law.”
“Only the parties to the conflict can truly stop this horror,” she added.
She called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” and for the two sides “to safely release all abducted and detained children.”
She also demanded that they “ensure that humanitarian personnel have safe, sustained and unimpeded access to reach those in need with the full range of lifesaving services and supplies.”
Ms. Russell said she had visited the Al-Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where she met with patients and displaced families seeking shelter and safety.
“A 16-year-old girl told me from her hospital bed that her neighborhood had been bombed. She survived but doctors say she will never be able to walk again,” she said.
Ms. Russell said she had also met with UNICEF staff who were “continuing to deliver for children amidst the danger and devastation.”
She said the organization was striving to continue to deliver aid, “but diesel fuel has practically run out, causing some hospitals and health centers to stop functioning.”
“Without fuel, desalination plants cannot produce drinking water and humanitarian supplies cannot be distributed,” she added.
On Wednesday, Israel allowed for the entry of a supply of fuel into Gaza for the first time since the outbreak of the war.