GENEVA

UNICEF on Friday highlighted the extreme mental health crisis facing Palestinian children in Gaza, saying the situation is unprecedented in modern history.

"We don't have an example in modern history in terms of an entire child population needing mental health support," spokesperson James Elder told a UN briefing in Geneva. "We are losing a generation in terms of education and in terms of a mental health crisis that we've not seen before."

Elder said children’s rights in Gaza have been “ignored and denied by choice” and called on those with power to act.

He added that 180,000 doses of essential childhood vaccines and incubators for preterm babies have been blocked at the border since Israel halted humanitarian aid from entering in early March.

"Protecting children, getting aid to children is not optional, it's law," he said.

More than 700 Palestinians have been killed and over 900 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since Tuesday, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that had held since January.

Nearly 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 112,000 injured in Israel’s military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.