Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 16, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleUNICEF labels it inhumane for Gaza City's children to flee due to unsafe camps. Over 140,000 have fled since August, facing dire conditions.
GENEVA (Reuters) -An official of the United Nations' children's agency said on Tuesday it was "inhumane" to expect hundreds of thousands of children to leave Gaza City as camps further south were unsafe, overcrowded and ill-equipped to receive them.
Israel announced on Tuesday the start of its long-awaited ground operation into Gaza City, the main urban centre in the enclave where Israel has ordered residents to flee. So far, more than 140,000 have already fled south from Gaza City since August 14, U.N. data shows, of a population of around 1 million people.
"It is inhumane to expect nearly half a million children, battered and traumatised by over 700 days of unrelenting conflict, to flee one hellscape and end up in another," Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokesperson, told reporters by video link from the sprawling tent camp of Mawasi, Gaza.
Conditions there are so desperate that some people who fled Israel's new offensive on famine-struck Gaza City in recent days are heading back towards the falling bombs, they told Reuters.
"People really do have no good option - stay in danger or flee to a place that they also know is dangerous," she said, adding that some children had been killed at the Mawasi camp while collecting water.
Ingram described seeing large numbers of people fleeing down the main road out of Gaza City this week. One mother, Israa, made the journey on foot accompanied by her five hungry, thirsty children including two with no shoes, said Ingram, who met them.
"They were walking into the unknown - no clear destination or plan - with little hope of finding solace," she said.
(Reporting by Emma FargeEditing by Gareth Jones)
Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokesperson, stated it is 'inhumane' to expect nearly half a million children to flee Gaza City, which has been under conflict for over 700 days.
Conditions are so desperate that some people are returning to Gaza City despite the danger, as they feel they have no good options.
One mother, Israa, described walking with her five children into the unknown, facing hunger and thirst without a clear destination or plan.
So far, more than 140,000 have fled Gaza City as Israel announced its ground operation.
Some children have been killed at the Mawasi camp while collecting water, highlighting the severe risks they face even in supposed safe areas.
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