Children paying highest price of war in Gaza: UNICEF spokesman

Children are paying the highest price of the continuing crisis in the Gaza Strip, as worsening humanitarian conditions mean lives are being claimed not only by airstrikes but also by malnutrition, disease, and cold weather, a United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) spokesman said on Thursday.

In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), UNICEF spokesman Kazem Abu Khalaf detailed the severity of the situation in Gaza in the new year.

""There is almost nothing to celebrate in Gaza to be honest, while [at] the [same] time the whole world is celebrating 2025. In Gaza, the population, 90 percent of them have acute food insecurity, tens of thousands of children are in the cycle of malnutrition - 31 percent of them are in acute malnutrition, and 4.5 percent of the 31 percent, they have already got to the stage of wasting, which is the deadliest. So civilians, children mainly, are paying the highest price of this war. And it's not [just] that they are falling [because of] bombardment, lack of shelter, malnutrition or diseases, now even the weather is claiming some lives of the children, unfortunately," Khalaf added.

Further exacerbating the plight of displaced Palestinians in the coastal enclave, Gaza has experienced several days of torrential rain and strong winds, causing widespread flooding and damage to makeshift shelters, and leaving many young children exposed to freezing conditions.

Khalaf noted the harrowing reports from Gaza-based health authorities that seven Palestinians, including six infants, have died in the past week due to hypothermia, and said immediate action is needed to save lives despite the difficulties in distributing aid to children in need.

"We, together with the humanitarian organizations that are working in the Gaza Strip, are trying to do our best. We are not sparing any efforts. But the challenges are really, really big. We have so far distributed around 27,000 tarps to cover 13,000, maybe 14,000 families. They can be used to repair the tents. And we are trying to distribute clothes, especially baby clothes. No less than 16,000 already already has been distributed, 20 percent of them, unfortunately, are in the north. The rest is in the center of the Gaza strip. And that's basically where the biggest number of people, the displaced [people] are. [There's] more to come, but the challenges are huge," said the spokesman.

Children paying highest price of war in Gaza: UNICEF spokesman

Switzerland, known for its pristine lakes and rich tradition of fishing, is facing a significant challenge of plunging fish stocks that could threaten the livelihood of many in the fisheries industry.

In recent years, local fishermen have seen their catches decline drastically, with about 90 percent of the fish consumed in the country now being imported. This shift reflects broader environmental changes impacting Swiss fisheries, and the difficulties local fishermen are enduring are becoming more evident each year.

At seven in the morning, as the first light of dawn begins to break, a handful of fishermen at a dock in Geneva prepare to head out to the lake to check the nets they set the previous day. As the long nets were hauled from the water, the catch of perch was relatively small, but the fishermen were still satisfied, especially since they managed to net two large pike, which would fetch a good price.

Francois Liani, a fisherman of 30 years, said 2024 has been the worst year for fishing with the lowest amount of catch.

"I have never seen anything like this in over 30 years. That's right, 2024 is the worst year in the past 30 years," he said.

Fifty years ago, there were more than 800 professional fishermen in Switzerland. Today, that number has dropped to fewer than 90.

"There are many reasons, but one of the most important reasons is global warming -- it is one of the biggest problems. We have also new mussels that come from the Black Sea on the Eastern Europe that came about five, seven years ago. They have a large impact on the food availability for the fishes," said Maxime Prevedello, communication officer for the French-speaking region of the Swiss Fishing Federation (SFV).

As a result, the growth rate of fish has slowed significantly. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, a professional fisherman was able to catch around 1,000 tons of fish annually. Today, that number has dropped to just around 100 tons -- a mere one-tenth of what it used to be, according to Prevedello.

In the summer of 2024, Switzerland once again endured high temperatures. Native fish species such as perch, grayling, and the Alpine char, which have adapted to cold water, have been particularly affected. According to Switzerland's environmental authorities, 58 percent of the country's native fish species are now classified as endangered.

Swiss fishermen face growing struggle as local fish stocks plunge