Gaza / PNN – UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Mia Farrow and Mahmoud Kabil spent two days in the Gaza Strip meeting with children.

The American and Egyptian actors respectively were on a mission to witness directly the difficulties experienced by Palestinian children who live under Israeli siege that continues after the major attacks.

Farrow commented, “The children seem traumatized. Teachers say that when they hear a loud noise they look to the sky screaming and crying. They do not know what the future holds. They live in deprivation and fear. They deserve better.”

In a unique initiative, Farrow entered Gaza through the Erez Crossing in the north’s Beit Hanoun while Kabil came in through the southern Rafah crossing.

While the Gaza Strip measures just 45 kilometers long and 12 km and its widest point, of its 1.5 million residents, half of them are children.

During the major attacks of late December and January, 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including 350 children, and more than 5,000 people were injured, among them 1,600 children.
 
During the tour, Farrow visited a school in the northern Gaza Strip and talked to students and teachers about the impact of the siege on essential services such as education, health and sanitation.

The UNICEF Ambassadors also heard testimonies of children who are forced to work in the tunnels and elsewhere to support their families in the Gaza Strip where eight out of 10 families rely on food aid.

This is the second part of the trip for Egyptian actor Kabil who was in the West Bank during Ramadan to support Palestinian children and their families during the holy month.

Of Gaza he said, “I am glad that I was finally able to visit the children of Gaza and to express solidarity with their families who are in distress and suffer daily.”

Today, nine months after the major Israeli attacks, some 20,000 Palestinians are still without homes. The embargo prevents materials for rebuilding damaged houses and schools. Children remain at risk from undetonated explosives left behind, while more than 60 percent of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip do not have daily access to water.