DaysofPal-The health ministry in Gaza reported on Thursday that nine more people died over the past 24 hours due to famine and malnutrition, underscoring the speed at which the humanitarian crisis is deepening.
The announcement, made via the ministry’s Telegram channel, marks a chilling milestone in what aid groups are calling a completely preventable humanitarian disaster.
Moreover, the United Nations has issued a grave warning that Gaza will run out of the specialized therapeutic food needed to treat severely malnourished children by mid-August, placing thousands of lives at immediate risk.
According to UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), stocks of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food RUTF, a nutrient-rich paste used to treat severe acute malnutrition, are critically low.
They added that the current supplies are only sufficient to treat around 3,000 children, while over 5,000 were already treated in the first half of July alone.
“If new supplies do not reach Gaza urgently, we will not be able to save the lives of the children who need this food most,” a UNICEF official warned.
Since April, more than 20,500 children have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition in Gaza, with at least 3,247 suffering from its most life-threatening form, and between April and May, the number of SAM cases nearly tripled, while hunger-related deaths have surged, including at least 83 children among the 122 total deaths recorded so far, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The crisis has escalated sharply due to tight Israeli restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid. Humanitarian agencies describe the situation as a man-made catastrophe, exacerbated by months of blockade, the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system, and the ongoing war that began in October 2023.
Nearly 100,000 women and children are now in urgent need of life-saving nutritional treatment. If aid corridors are not immediately reopened, aid groups fear a wave of preventable child deaths in the coming weeks.
The WHO also reported that essential nutrition programs for pregnant women and children under five are now on the brink of collapse due to the depletion of basic supplements and medical supplies.
“This is not just a health emergency; it is a moral one,” said a WHO spokesperson.
“Children are dying not because of disease, but because food and medicine are being blocked.” He added.
Humanitarian officials are urgently calling for immediate and unrestricted access for aid convoys into all parts of Gaza, replenishment of therapeutic food stocks, particularly RUTF, a lasting ceasefire, and protection of humanitarian workers and facilities.
They added that without swift action, agencies warn that Gaza could witness a full-scale famine among its youngest and most vulnerable, a preventable tragedy unfolding in real time.
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