By Rania Abu Shamala
ISTANBUL (AA) - The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said Saturday that children in the Gaza Strip spend eight hours a day carrying food and water, forcing families to resort to using seawater for daily tasks.
“Children in #Gaza can spend 6-8 hours a day collecting water & food, often carrying heavy weights & walking long distances,” the agency wrote on X.
“Sanitation facilities & infrastructure are severely compromised, forcing thousands of families to rely on seawater to wash, clean & even drink,” it added.
Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas.
More than 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,700 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Nearly nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.