Israel's foreign minister says Rafah incursion could be suspended should a deal emerge to release the hostages
mena1 hour ago
At least 83 children were killed in Middle East war zones in January, most of them in Syria, the UN children's agency Unicef said on Monday, vowing their voices "will never be silenced".
"They were killed in ongoing conflicts, suicide attacks or frozen to death as they fled active war zones," said Unicef's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Geert Cappelaere.
"In the month of January alone, escalating violence in Iraq, Libya, the State of Palestine, Syria and Yemen has claimed the lives of at least 83 children," Cappelaere added in a statement.
Calling January a "dark (and) bloody month", Cappelaere said it was "unacceptable that children continue being killed and injured every single day". "Children may have been silenced but their voices will continue to be heard... their voices will never be silenced" .
"We collectively continue failing to stop the war on children! We have no justification. We have no reason to accept a new normal."
The highest death toll was in Syria where 59 children were killed in violence as the war there enters its eighth year, said Unicef.
In Yemen, wracked by conflict since March 2015 between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and a government supported by a Saudi-led military coalition, 16 children were killed, it said. "Unicef is receiving reports of killed and injured children on a daily basis as fighting escalates across the country (Yemen)," it added.
In Libya's second city Benghazi, a suicide attack killed three children while three others died while "playing near unexploded ordnance" and a fourth child was critically wounded. A child was killed in a "booby-trapped" house in Iraq's second city Mosul, ruled for three years by Daesh group militants before being driven out by government forces in July after fierce battles. And north of the city of Ramallah Israeli soldiers shot dead a 16-year-old Palestinian boy.
Four children were among 16 Syrian refugees who "froze to death" in a snowstorm as they were fleeing their country to neighbouring Lebanon, said Unicef, adding that more children suffered frost bite. An official put the toll at 17.
"Not hundreds, not thousands but millions more children in the Middle East and North Africa region have their childhood stolen, maimed for life, traumatised, arrested and detained, exploited, prevented from going to school and from getting the most essential health services; denied even the basic right to play," said Cappelaere.
Israel's foreign minister says Rafah incursion could be suspended should a deal emerge to release the hostages
mena1 hour ago
The authority is currently taking measures to prevent any unsafe products from reaching the market
uae1 hour ago
Values reach an annual $2.6 billion in gross written premiums
business1 hour ago
The hospital has treated more than 18,000 cases that required medical intervention
uae1 hour ago
Due to the recent holidays to mark Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, students received extended leave, including for the heat alert
world1 hour ago
UAE's Ministry of Finance has put in significant efforts with the savings awareness initiatives
personal finance2 hours ago
The appointment comes a month after parliament elected Shahbaz Sharif as prime minister
asia2 hours ago
The journalist was detained for allegedly spreading "fake news" about the armed forces
world2 hours ago