"Within a few months, the war in Gaza had already made its own addition to the vocabulary of emergency medical assistance with the world's most heartbreaking acronym: WCNSF, wounded child, no surviving family. Over two years of bombardment and famine the problem has worsened, even though in the constant chaos created by Israeli bombing and evacuation orders, which fragment communities and scatter them around the Gaza Strip, it is hard to keep track of children separated from their families."
"The UN's child protection agency, Unicef, cited Gaza health ministry statistics from early September, recording 2,596 children who had lost both parents, and a further 53,724 who had lost either their father (47,804) or mother (5,920). There is no data on how many parentless children have also been wounded, but, even as the first phase of a ceasefire deal to end the long war was agreed on Thursday, Gaza has the highest rate of child amputations of any modern conflict."
"On 13 August, a three-year-old girl, Wesam, was asleep with her five-year-old brother, Zuheir, her pregnant mother, Nour, her father, Moatassem, and her grandparents, when the family house in Gaza City was bombed. Wesam was the only survivor, but sustained serious wounds to her leg and abdomen, including a lacerated liver and kidney, and severe psychological trauma. Unicef said she was in urgent need of medical evacuation abroad for advanced treatment, particularly to save her left leg from the risk of amputation."
War in Gaza produced the medical acronym WCNSF — wounded child, no surviving family — to identify orphaned injured children. Over two years of bombardment and famine have increased the number of separated and parentless children amid chaotic bombing and evacuation orders that fragment communities. Unicef cited Gaza health ministry statistics recording 2,596 children who lost both parents and 53,724 who lost one parent. Gaza has the highest rate of child amputations of any modern conflict. Many children sustain severe physical and psychological injuries and urgently require advanced medical evacuation and treatment abroad.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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