The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has condemned the forced displacement of Gaza City’s population, describing it as “inhumane” and warning that hundreds of thousands of children are being pushed from one nightmare into another amid Israel’s intensifying assault.

Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, Tess Ingram, UNICEF’s communication manager for the Middle East, painted a harrowing picture of the suffering endured by Gaza’s youngest and most vulnerable.

“It is inhumane to expect nearly half a million children, battered and traumatized by over 700 days of unrelenting conflict, to flee one hellscape to end up in another,” Ingram said.

Her remarks came as Israeli occupation forces escalated their ground invasion in Gaza City, ordering residents to abandon their homes under threat of bombardment.

Ingram recounted meeting Isra, a mother of five whose family trekked more than six hours on foot to the south, with the two youngest children walking barefoot and the family pushing a trailer of belongings.

“They were walking into the unknown, with little hope of finding solace,” she said.

Israel is forcing displaced families into what it calls a “humanitarian zone” in Al-Mawasi, which Ingram described as “a sea of makeshift tents, human despair and insufficient supplies.”

At the same time, hunger and disease are spreading at unprecedented rates. UNICEF estimates that 26,000 children in Gaza require urgent treatment for acute malnutrition — more than 10,000 of them in Gaza City alone.

“In August, more than one in eight children screened across the strip were acutely malnourished, the highest level we’ve ever recorded,” Ingram warned. “In Gaza City, that figure is one in five.”

But as humanitarian needs skyrocket, lifesaving services are collapsing. Sixteen nutrition centers were forced to shut down this week due to evacuation orders and military assaults, cutting off a third of the remaining treatment facilities for starving children.

Gaza City also endured one of its deadliest nights on Monday, with at least 35 Palestinians killed, dozens wounded, and many still missing beneath the rubble as Israeli forces deployed explosive-laden robots to demolish homes.

Since October 2023, nearly 65,000 Palestinians — most of them women and children — have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, artillery fire, and ground attacks. The relentless campaign has rendered Gaza uninhabitable, triggering famine-like conditions and outbreaks of disease.

Human rights groups warn that Israel’s systematic targeting of civilians, destruction of housing, and starvation tactics amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. UNICEF’s plea adds to the growing international pressure on the United Nations and world powers to secure an immediate ceasefire and hold Israeli leaders accountable.

“The children of Gaza are living through a manufactured apocalypse,” one Palestinian aid worker told reporters. “They are not fleeing for safety. They are being driven from one death trap to another.” (ILKHA)