At least 17,000 unaccompanied children in Gaza: UN

At least 17,000 children in the Gaza Strip are now either unaccompanied by, or separated from their parents or relatives, the United Nations (UN) has estimated.

Speaking from Jerusalem on Friday, Jonathan Crickx, chief of communication in the State of Palestine for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said this figure corresponds to one per cent of the 1.7 million people who have been displaced in Gaza. The total population in the enclave is around 2.3 million, Xinhua news agency reported.

The UN official, who visited Gaza this week, said he had met 12 children there, three of whom had lost a parent. "Behind each of those statistics is a child coming to terms with this horrible new reality," he said.

For example, 11-year-old Razan lost almost all her family members, and her leg had to be amputated, he said. "She was still in shock, learning to live with a disability in the context where rehabilitation services were not available."

Owing to a lack of food, water and shelter, extended families are unable to take care of extra children, he said. The mental health of Palestinian children is severely impacted, he added. They have been displaying extremely high levels of anxiety, loss of appetite, insomnia and panic every time they hear the sound of bombings.

"UNICEF now estimates that almost all children of Gaza, more than one million, need mental health and psychosocial support," the UN official noted. "The only way to have this mental health and psychosocial support delivered at scale is with a ceasefire."