LAHORE: The United Nations’ top humanitarian official, Tom Fletcher, issued a dire warning, highlighting a rapidly deteriorating crisis in Gaza where up to 14,000 children could die within 48 hours if lifesaving humanitarian aid does not reach them immediately.
“This is a litmus test for humanity — a clarion call to the conscience of the world,” declared Ubaidah al Fidhdha Hafiah (11) and Ghulam Bishar Hafi (13), two Pakistani minors who have been leading a relentless 11-month-long campaign to halt what they describe as the “ongoing systematic infanticide in Gaza”.
“If we fail to act now, we forfeit even the most basic claim to humanity,” the young activists warned in a statement issued here on Wednesday.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Fletcher emphasized the urgency of delivering aid, noting that hundreds of trucks carrying baby food and nutritional supplies are stationed at Gaza’s borders but remain blocked. “This is not food that Hamas is going to steal,” Fletcher stressed. “We are taking enormous risks to get this baby food to mothers who are unable to feed their malnourished children right now.”
The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that 14,000 children in Gaza are already suffering from severe acute malnutrition—a life-threatening condition characterized by extreme weight loss and skeletal appearance. If left untreated, it can cause irreversible damage. Furthermore, a UN-backed food security assessment projects that nearly 71,000 children could face acute malnutrition in the coming year due to the continuing blockade of food and humanitarian supplies.
In a deeply emotional statement, Ubaidah and Ghulam Bishar, who famously wrote resolutions in their own blood, condemned the global inaction: “Shame on the shamelessness of those who silently observe these darkest hours of child starvation — used as a weapon of war and a tool of terror through neo-Hitlerian tactics. What’s unfolding in Gaza is nothing short of a systematic infanticide — and the world is letting it happen.”
The siblings’ grassroots campaign has gained international attention for its powerful symbolism and moral clarity. Their unwavering stance has inspired calls across civil societies to treat the Gaza child crisis not just as a humanitarian emergency, but as a fundamental test of global moral responsibility.
