Louisa Baxter, Head of Emergency Health at Save the Children International, said in a video statement from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza that she is “surrounded by massive destruction.”
During a session at the United Nations Security Council in New York on Thursday evening, she added that “more than 1.9 million people have been displaced from their homes and are moving through streets filled with rubble, garbage, and sewage.”
She noted that children in Gaza have endured—over the past 320 days—constant bombardment, death, displacement, and siege.
According to the data, she explained, “more than 1% of the total number of children in Gaza—14,000 children—have been killed, and this estimate is likely much lower than reality, as the figure has not been updated since May. At least 10,000 bodies, many of them children, are still missing.”
She continued that “the medical teams from the organization have treated more than 13,000 people at our clinic in Deir al-Balah, and the children we are treating show signs of deep trauma.”
Baxter highlighted the worsening of common childhood diseases due to malnutrition, lack of water, and absence of basic medications. She pointed out that “Israel” has blocked the entry of antibiotics, painkillers, and even refrigerators for vaccine storage.
She said, “We are witnessing deliberate and repeated obstruction of humanitarian aid in Gaza,” adding, “My team has been waiting for lifesaving medicines for four months, which are held up at the crossings under various Israeli rules and restrictions, many of which are unwritten and arbitrary.”
Baxter also noted the confirmed outbreak of polio in Gaza, with the first confirmed case being a ten-month-old child in Deir al-Balah. She described this as “a personal tragedy and a sign of a larger catastrophe looming.”
She warned that if preventive measures are not taken immediately, the polio outbreak could not only be a disaster for Gaza’s children but could also significantly undermine global efforts to eradicate the disease.
She stated, “Polio anywhere is a threat to children everywhere. As we speak, polio is spreading in Gaza and will not wait at the checkpoint at Kerem Shalom or at the customs office at Ben Gurion Airport.”
To effectively respond to the polio outbreak in Gaza, Louisa Baxter said there must be an immediate and continuous ceasefire, lasting no less than a week for each phase. This timeframe assumes that all attacks on humanitarian and medical workers must stop now and permanently.
She added, “Relief groups must be able to move freely across Gaza, and people must be able to take their children to vaccination points safely.”
Baxter emphasized that unrestricted humanitarian access to and within Gaza is essential for all humanitarian supplies and workers. She concluded, “We have collectively failed Gaza’s children for 320 days, and I urge this Council and its member states to take immediate and decisive action. We leave this matter in your hands.”