Middle East

Israel withdraws from seven UN agencies. Over 100 children killed in Gaza since truce began

Cold and rain also continue to cause deaths

by Giulia Riva

13 January 2026

I palestinesi ispezionano i danni causati dalla guerra in un edificio parzialmente crollato, in una ventosa giornata invernale, nella città di Gaza, il 13 gennaio 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has announced his decision to withdraw Israel from several UN agencies and associated organisations for reasons ranging from alleged anti-Israeli bias to "ineffective bureaucracy". The Times Of Israel reports.

The agencies from which Israel is withdrawing with immediate effect are: the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict; the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (UN Women); the UN Conference on Trade and Development; the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia; the UN Alliance of Civilisations; the UN Energy Agency; and the Global Forum on Migration and Development.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry added that it will continue to examine Israel's links with other UN agencies.

We continue to freeze to death in Gaza

Dying of cold in the Gaza Strip. It happened again, to a child. This brings to seven the number of child deaths recorded since last November in the Palestinian enclave due to the lack of adequate accommodation to cope with the harsh weather conditions. The news is given by the Ministry of Health of the Strip.

Strong winds during the night also caused some tents to collapse. Four people died and at least five others were injured. The dead include two women, a girl and a man, according to the Shifa hospital that received the victims.

Gaza, forti raffiche di vento e pioggia: le immagini delle tende distrutte e allagate

"The humanitarian situation remains dire," emphasised Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, "because the harsh weather conditions are jeopardising the progress of the humanitarian response and at least 1.1 million people in the Strip are still in urgent need of aid.

Over a hundred children dead since the beginning of the truce

More than a hundred children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began. "A boy or a girl killed every day," Unicef spokesman James Elder told the Palais des Nations in Geneva, stressing that bombings and firefights have only decreased. "What the world now calls 'calm' would be considered a crisis anywhere else. Unfortunately, the ceasefire has had an unintended effect: Palestinian children in Gaza have disappeared from the scene,' Unicef stressed.

Timid progress, but not enough

However, the United Nations Children's Fund recognises concrete progress in some areas during the truce: 'In the field of health, basic health services have been expanded, including vaccinations,' Elder said, assuring that Unicef is using every means at its disposal, from donkeys to bulldozers, to remove a thousand tons of solid waste each month and improve sanitation in the Strip.

"Despite modest progress, two years of war have made the lives of Gaza's children incredibly difficult. They still live in fear and their psychological traumas remain incurable, becoming deeper and more difficult to heal as time passes. Now is the time to turn de-escalation into real security: open up access to aid, massively increase medical evacuations, and make sure that this is the moment when the killing of children in Gaza really stops,' Elder concluded.