Children in Gaza have become the faces of the ongoing war painting a “harrowing picture” of the conflict, a UNICEF official said on Tuesday.

“From devastating injuries sustained in airstrikes, to the trauma of being caught in violent clashes, their stories paint a harrowing picture of the human consequences of conflict,” UNICEF communications specialist Tess Ingram – who left Gaza on Monday after spending two weeks there – told a UN press briefing in Geneva, according to Al Arabiya news agency. 

More than 12,000 children have been injured in Gaza since October 7, 2023, she said, adding this is “almost certainly an underestimate.”

With at least 70 children injured in Gaza every day, often left to “languish in pain,” according to Ingram, there is an urgent need to increase the number of medical evacuations to facilitate access to proper care.

“With one child killed or injured every 10 minutes, above anything else we need a ceasefire,” Ingram said.

She added: “Imagine being strip-searched, left naked and questioned for hours. Told that you are safe and you can leave, you quickly walk away down the street, praying. But then, you are shot at. Your father is killed and a bullet penetrates your naked pelvis causing serious internal and external injuries that will require reconstructive surgery.”