UNICEF: Inaction on Gaza Amounts to 'Approval' of Killing Children

A Palestinian girl wounded in an Israeli strike is assisted, after a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel expired, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, December 1, 2023. REUTERS/Arafat Barbakh
A Palestinian girl wounded in an Israeli strike is assisted, after a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel expired, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, December 1, 2023. REUTERS/Arafat Barbakh
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UNICEF: Inaction on Gaza Amounts to 'Approval' of Killing Children

A Palestinian girl wounded in an Israeli strike is assisted, after a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel expired, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, December 1, 2023. REUTERS/Arafat Barbakh
A Palestinian girl wounded in an Israeli strike is assisted, after a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel expired, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, December 1, 2023. REUTERS/Arafat Barbakh

UNICEF on Friday appealed for a lasting ceasefire to be implemented in Gaza, describing inaction as "an approval of the killing of children" after a week-old truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed.

"A lasting ceasefire must be implemented," James Elder, spokesperon for UNICEF, told reporters via video link from Gaza.

"Inaction at its core is an approval of the killing of children."

Barely two hours after the truce expired, Gaza health officials reported that 35 people had already been killed and dozens wounded in air strikes that hit at least eight homes.
Medics and witnesses said the bombing was most intensive in Khan Younis and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, and also targeted houses in central and northern areas.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.