In an interview with the Egyptian English-language Qnews broadcast channel, Ingram urged the international community—particularly states with influence—to “use whatever leverage they have” to pressure for a cessation of hostilities, warning that every day without a ceasefire puts the lives of thousands more children at risk.
“It remains the number one priority,” she said.
“And while it may sound tired after so many months, it is not a tired ask.”
On 18 March, Israel resumed its full-scale genocidal war on Gaza—unilaterally ending a two-month ceasefire agreement with Hamas, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, which had been in effect since 19 January.
Relentless Israeli airstrikes have killed over 855 and wounded nearly 1,869 since 18 March.
In tandem, Israel has blocked the entry of all food, water, and medicine to Gaza since 2 March, starving more than 2.1 million Palestinians in the strip.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced that the death toll from the Israeli genocidal war on the strip has surpassed 51,000, with over 114,000 injured since 7 October 2023.
Ingram described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as deteriorating rapidly, with UNICEF unable to bring in life-saving supplies for more than three weeks—the longest such period since the war began in October 2023.
“There is not a single child in Gaza—1 million of them—who does not need mental health and psychosocial support,” Ingram said, adding that more than 60,000 children are at risk of acute malnutrition and 20,000 have been separated from their parents.
She cited increasing cases of disease, including skin infections like scabies.
She described desperate scenes of children standing in long lines for water, many returning to shelters with just one bucket a day.
“If they survive the bombardments, they’re still faced with the deprivation caused by the aid blockade,” she said. “It’s an impact across the entire life spectrum of a child.”
Ingram warned that children were being forced to drink unsafe water and eat animal fodder, putting them at risk of disease and further malnutrition. With aid trucks stuck just a few kilometers outside Gaza, the situation, she said, is “entirely preventable.”
Gaza’s already crippled health system is nearing collapse, Ingram said, pointing to more than 600 attacks on medical facilities since October. Hospitals are running low on fuel, supplies are exhausted, and staff are overwhelmed.
“We are operating with only a handful of partially functioning hospitals,” she said. “And when we see days like March 18, with mass casualties, they simply can’t cope.”
She stressed the need to restart medical evacuations, which have largely halted since the aid blockade resumed. “We are not seeing nearly enough evacuations through Rafah or Karm Abu Salem,” she said.
Ingram also highlighted the unprecedented loss of humanitarian personnel in Gaza, with more than 280 aid workers killed since the war began—the highest number in UN history. Eight aid workers were killed this week alone, she said.
Despite sharing their coordinates with all parties to the conflict under a system known as “deconfliction,” humanitarian premises continue to come under fire. Ingram said a recent attack on a marked UN guesthouse injured five staff and killed one.
“That system works in other conflicts. It is not being respected in Gaza—and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be,” she added.
Describing her own recent visit to Gaza, Ingram said many children were deeply traumatized—some had stopped speaking, some were suicidal, and many had lost their entire families.
“Children under five have experienced horrors no person should witness in a lifetime,” she said. “We don’t even know yet how long-lasting this trauma will be because the violence hasn’t stopped.”
She warned that as long as trauma continues to accumulate, the likelihood of long-term psychological scars grows. “We only begin to understand the full impact when a child finally feels safe again,” she said.
UNICEF continues operations inside Gaza despite severe constraints and the partial reduction in UN international staff. Ingram said the agency is rotating staff in and out and maintaining a consistent presence of national and international workers.
“We have health experts, nutritionists, water engineers on the ground,” she said. “But our operations are hampered by the blockade, by movement restrictions, and by the danger we face daily.”
Ingram ended with a direct appeal to global leaders, urging them to listen to Gaza’s children.
“Every second person in Gaza is a child,” she said. “Talk to them—and the path forward becomes clear. We must stop killing and injuring children. We must provide them with the basic things they need to survive—food, water, shelter, medicine.”
Short link: