欧美文化:UN official warns attacks likely to rise in Gaza over holiday period

GENEVA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- A senior United Nations (UN) official on Tuesday warned that the holiday period would likely bring an increase in attacks in the Gaza Strip, as the world turns its focus elsewhere during Christmas.

Around 7,000 children have been killed in Gaza so far, while around 1,000 children have lost one or more of their lower limbs, according to spokesperson for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) James Elder.

He told a press briefing in Geneva: "The sheer number of children with amputations is shocking."

The official told reporters that the largest remaining fully-functional hospital in Gaza, Al-Nasr in Khan Younis, has been shelled twice in the last 48 hours.

The hospital was not only sheltering a large number of seriously wounded children, but also hundreds of women and children from across the Gaza Strip who were seeking safety.

Over 100,000 children in Gaza currently have diarrhea, which can be deadly, while 150,000 civilians have acute respiratory illnesses.

Malnutrition is also soaring among children in Gaza. Over 130,000 of Gaza's most vulnerable children, infants aged under two, are not receiving critical breastfeeding or age-appropriate complementary feeding, Elder underlined.

"Without sufficient, safe water, food and sanitation that only a humanitarian ceasefire could bring, child deaths due to disease could well surpass those already killed in bombardments," he said.