UNICEF: ‘Extremely important’ wounded children to be able to return after treatment outside Gaza
2/1/2026 2:14:00 PM
We have spoken to Jonathan Crickx, the chief of communications at UNICEF Palestine, about how vital the reopening of the Rafah crossing is and what difference it will actually make.
Here’s what he said from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza:
“We don’t know exactly how things will work and the processes but what is for sure is that this step is an important one – and it’s an important one for several reasons.
“First of all we have seen before April 2024, at the beginning of a very, very intense war, many children and mothers who evacuated through Rafah, so it’s extremely important that these children can be reunited with their parents, that they can just be together as a family in the Gaza Strip or outside of the Gaza Strip.
“And then, medical evacuations are so critical. I met with so many children who have been injured, amputated by explosions during the war who have lost a limb, an arm, a leg – some of these children have been take care of here in the Gaza Strip but the health system is definitely not sufficient to absorb all the children who have a huge need for rehabilitation, etc.
“So for those children, it’s extremely important that they can exit the Gaza Strip to seek the medical treatment they need … and also very important that they are able to come back.”
Here’s what he said from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza:
“We don’t know exactly how things will work and the processes but what is for sure is that this step is an important one – and it’s an important one for several reasons.
“First of all we have seen before April 2024, at the beginning of a very, very intense war, many children and mothers who evacuated through Rafah, so it’s extremely important that these children can be reunited with their parents, that they can just be together as a family in the Gaza Strip or outside of the Gaza Strip.
“And then, medical evacuations are so critical. I met with so many children who have been injured, amputated by explosions during the war who have lost a limb, an arm, a leg – some of these children have been take care of here in the Gaza Strip but the health system is definitely not sufficient to absorb all the children who have a huge need for rehabilitation, etc.
“So for those children, it’s extremely important that they can exit the Gaza Strip to seek the medical treatment they need … and also very important that they are able to come back.”