GAZA: More than 130,000 Palestinian boys and girls in Gaza have joined summer camps run by the United Nations to give them a break from the stresses of living in a strip of land that is under an economic blockade and often embroiled in conflict with Israel.
The Palestine children, including those with disabilities, will over four weeks participate in a series of activities including greening, recycling, sports, drawing, handicrafts, and language learning, the agency said.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said a recent agency study found that 38 percent of children in Gaza showed symptoms of functional impairment affecting their daily lives.
UNRWA runs 284 schools in Gaza, serving at least 290,000 students.
“The most important thing is 130,000 children get the opportunity just to be kids despite of the economic situation, despite the ongoing conflict, they can come to summer weeks of UNRWA and just be children,” said Thomas White, the Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza.
Palestinians have lived through several wars with Israel since 2008, including five days of fighting in May, which have made healing almost impossible as the causes remain unchanged, say local and international experts.
They put the number of children needing mental health help at nearly a quarter of the enclave’s 2.3 million population that lives under a crippling blockade enforced by Israel and Egypt, which both control and restrict the Gaza Strip’s borders.
“I came here to entertain myself away from the things I had been subject to such as wars and conflicts that I witnessed. I may not be like other children (of the world) but I am trying to stay positive no matter what happens,” 13-year-old Joanna El-Halabi told Reuters at one school in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
The activity creates around 3,000 short-term jobs for Gaza youth, UNRWA said.
Established in 1949 following the first Arab-Israeli war, the agency provides public services including schools, primary health care, and humanitarian aid in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
UN summer camps let kids ‘just be kids’ in Gaza
https://arab.news/vv2ke
UN summer camps let kids ‘just be kids’ in Gaza
- UNRWA said a recent agency study found that 38% of children in Gaza showed symptoms of functional impairment affecting their daily lives
- "The most important thing is 130,000 children get the opportunity just to be kids," said Thomas White, the Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza
Spain highlights importance of Gaza reconstruction
- Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Mustafa, and the Spanish foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, on Friday discussed the latest developments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
During their telephone conversation they emphasized the need to intensify international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and halt attacks and settler violence, and to secure the release of Palestinian funds held by Israeli authorities.
They affirmed the importance of ongoing efforts relating to plans for the reconstruction of Gaza, and Europe’s significant role in this process. Mustafa and Albares highlighted the need to unify Palestinian institutions in Gaza with those in the West Bank, with the aim of establishing a Palestinian state in line with international resolutions, including last year’s New York Declaration.
They also discussed coordination between their countries, and the strengthening of Spain’s political, diplomatic and financial support for Palestine, and Mustafa thanked Spain for its ongoing support.
Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway. Estephan Salameh, the Palestinian finance and planning minister, is set to visit Spain this month to discuss enhanced cooperation, particularly in the areas of development and reconstruction. Meanwhile, Israel continues operating in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Prisoners media office said on Friday that Israel carried out numerous raids across the territory, including the major cities of Ramallah and Hebron, according to The Associated Press.
Nearly 50 people were detained, following the arrest of at least 50 other Palestinians on Thursday, most of those in the Ramallah area.
As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
But Palestinians are still being killed by Israeli fire, especially along the so-called Yellow Line that delineates areas under Israeli control, and the humanitarian crisis is compounded by frequent winter rains and colder temperatures.
On Friday, American actor and film producer Angelina Jolie visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
The only crossing between the territory and a country other than Israel, it remains closed despite Palestinian requests to reopen it to people and aid.
Jolie met with members of the Red Crescent on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing and then visited a hospital in the nearby city of Arish to speak with Palestinian patients on Friday, according to Egyptian officials.
Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza during the truce.
