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RAMALLAH (Oct. 27, 2023) — Children are at heightened risk of loss of life, physical harm, severe emotional distress, and protracted displacement following the announced “expanded ground operations” by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, said ��һ�Թ�.

Children will bear the brunt of the “intensification of attacks” in Gaza, with more deaths, injuries, and distress likely, said the aid agency, calling for an immediate ceasefire.

The announcement came amid reports of increased airstrikes, with internet and mobile phone services completely cut off. ��һ�Թ� has lost contact with its team in Gaza.

While the scale and nature of this operation remain unclear, in the event of a full ground incursion, more than one million children’s lives—nearly half of the 2.3 million population of Gaza—will be on the line. This includes an unknown number of child hostages taken from Israel into the Gaza Strip.

Earlier today, Shadi,* a ��һ�Թ� team member in Gaza, sent a message saying: "I’m trying to reach out to people, but there is no connection at all… We could all die, we could survive, we could survive, we could…. pray for us.”

In the face of the rapidly escalating violence and the profound humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, Jason Lee, ��һ�Թ�’s Country Director in the occupied Palestinian territory, said:

"This is pure horror for all children and their parents. Across the Gaza Strip, more than one million children are trapped in the middle of an active conflict zone with no safe place to go and no route to safety. With communications down, children are cut off from the world, more isolated than ever before. They are unable to speak to loved ones, or even to call an ambulance.

“The Gaza Strip is a small, densely populated urban environment, with no way out. Any military ground operation inside Gaza puts children in immediate danger and has devastating impacts on access to health care, water, shelter, and food.

“Civilians and infrastructure essential for their lives, such as hospitals and schools, must be spared from violence. The conflict has already killed more than 3,0001 children in under three weeks. Despite ��һ�Թ� and thousands of other voices calling for an urgent ceasefire, we are seeing an increase in military operations. We call on all parties to the conflict to take immediate steps to protect the lives of children, and on the international community to support those efforts, as is their obligation.”

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1Figure from the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

*Name has been changed