Peter Power: Gazan children are running out of time, Irish people should help where they can
Palestinian children wounded in Israeli strikes are brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Picture: AP Photo/Ali Mahmoud
Just six short weeks ago, I was in the Gaza Strip and witnessed first-hand the dire circumstances in which families and children were living. Never could I have imagined the events which have transpired subsequently which have now led to a catastrophic humanitarian disaster unfolding in recent days.
Since October 7, the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas has unleashed unimaginable horror on children in Gaza, where 15 years of conflict had already rendered 60% of the population food insecure.
Unicef has now launched a global humanitarian funding appeal.
We have a long-standing presence in Gaza and are in a strong position to respond at scale to the crisis.
Today, Unicef is calling on the Irish public’s long-standing support for the people of Palestine as we launch a global emergency appeal for $294m (€280m) to address the structural, physical, and emotional damage caused by the bombardment of the last few days.
We have responded immediately by providing urgently needed food, support, shelter, healthcare, sanitation, and protection to children under siege in Gaza. Unfortunately, for the families of the dead, there are no quick fixes to alleviate the overwhelming burden of their grief.
Grief and trauma is sadly nothing new for the people of Gaza. Six weeks ago, I witnessed the reality of “living in an open-air prison”, as the local people put it. There, I visited a Unicef trauma centre working with children who have grown up in the conflict, grappling with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I shudder to think of the impact these last days will have here.
Unicef and other international aid agencies are advocating for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the establishment of a humanitarian corridor in and out of Gaza to deliver essential supplies.
These unfortunately, were already in short supply for many Gazan children, who bore the physical and mental consequences of food insecurity and dirty water.
Prior to the conflict, a significant portion of the Gazan community did not have access to clean water, necessitating the installation of a desalinisation plant by our colleagues on the ground to purify water directly from the sea.
Today, following the decimation of sewage plants and water systems by airstrikes, we are told there is almost no clean water left.
Before the weekend, Israeli authorities warned of need for a full evacuation of Northern Gaza’s 1.1m people, nearly half of them children. These numbers are incredibly difficult to track as airstrike bombardment forces constant movement throughout the strip. What may constitute a sanctuary today may no longer exist tomorrow.
Gaza is an intensely overpopulated region, with over 2m people crammed into 365 sq km. That’s almost half the population of Ireland squeezed into half of Co Louth.
Some 4,626 housing units have already been rendered uninhabitable.
The more buildings that crumble, the more those remaining will swell with people and the greater the devastation of every bomb that falls.
In spite of their myriad challenges and barriers, the Gazan people I met six weeks ago were vibrant and resilient. Too hot to remain inside the cramped, poorly ventilated buildings, communities were drawn out of their homes to gather on the coastline.
There, they talked, laughed, played cards; we even saw a wedding. I was immediately struck by the spirit and strength of people who had endured so much and been left with so little. They will need that strength now more than ever.
With every day that passes, my colleagues and I feel a growing sense of fear and anxiety. We heard last Thursday that Gaza’s only power plant had shut down as it ran out of fuel.
Our first concern here are the hospitals that remain, teeming with people injured by the conflict alongside the elderly and chronically ill.
I cannot imagine the desperation they and their families must be feeling, notwithstanding the stress on their unborn babies.
Children in Gaza are running out of time. As power is lost, the only light punctuating the seemingly endless night is the burning of every square, every street corner they have ever known.
With a loss of power also comes a loss of communication, both with the world beyond the fence, but more urgently, with each other. As families are separated in the chaos of fleeing, they have no idea where or if their loved ones are alive. Any attempt to look for them could end their own lives in an instant.
Without food, water, and healthcare, thousands more children will die; not from the airstrikes themselves but from the insidious and long-term impact of this violence on what was already a dire situation.
There are no words for a humanitarian disaster of this complexity and scale; and in the absence of words, I would ask you to please take action and donate what you can to give children in Gaza the hope of tomorrow.
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