GENEVA, 13 August 2005 — The United Nations agency for children yesterday warned that arms and explosives left behind after Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip posed an acute danger to the young and urged caution. UNICEF urged that children be kept out of harm’s way to prevent more deaths.
In the nearly five years since a Palestinian uprising broke out, 829 children under 18 have died, 713 of those Palestinian, it said. “There will be weapons, there might be explosives, in this area,” said UNICEF spokesman Marc Vergara at a media briefing. “They might find unexploded ordnance. That’s the danger.”
Israel intends to evacuate all of its 21 enclaves in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank starting next Wednesday, the first removal of settlements from land Palestinians want for a state. If Israel’s “disengagement plan” does not proceed peacefully, children could be in danger, the agency said.
“We remind all participants in the exercise to pay special care to the needs of children,” he added. Half of the population in Gaza is under the age of 18, UNICEF said. “Palestinian and Israeli children have suffered terribly over recent years as a result of this conflict,” UNICEF head Ann Veneman said.
Meanwhile, a faded drawing of the sea and a sign in Hebrew and Arabic are all that remain of Hashem Al-Hawaldah’s fish restaurant nestled next to a Jewish settlement in occupied Gaza.
But Al-Hawaldah is now optimistic things will change and plans to reopen his once-bustling business when Israel evacuates all 21 settlements in the strip under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to “disengage” from conflict with Palestinians.
“My restaurant was burned down and my other one on the beach front was taken away from me when the Shirat Hayam settlement was built,” he said, staring at the empty ground where it once stood.
“I hope to reopen for business after the pullout and I hope to start building a new restaurant in five months. I have some funding and things will be better with the help of God.”
