DaysofPal – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that worsening malnutrition, combined with the onset of winter, is endangering the lives and health of children in the Gaza Strip. The agency said on Saturday that nearly 9,300 children are currently suffering from acute malnutrition.
In its statement, UNICEF stressed that winter conditions accelerate the spread of disease and sharply increase the risk of death among Gaza’s most vulnerable children.
The organization reports that approximately 9,300 children under the age of five were diagnosed with acute malnutrition during nutritional screenings in October. It added that two-thirds of Gaza’s children consumed only two food groups or fewer out of the eight essential food groups recommended for proper nutrition.
UNICEF urged all parties to open the crossings into Gaza and allow humanitarian aid to flow through all possible supply routes.
The death toll from malnutrition in Gaza has risen to 460 people over the past two years of mass violence, including 154 children.
Nearly two million Palestinians in Gaza are living in catastrophic conditions due to the tightened blockade and Israel’s continued delays in allowing sufficient humanitarian aid to enter.
This has led to widespread malnutrition and related diseases, while hospitals remain unable to provide adequate care amid severe shortages of medicine and medical supplies.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, backed by the United States and several European countries, has waged a devastating war on the Gaza Strip involving killing, starvation, destruction, displacement, and mass detention, despite international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt its actions.
The offensive has left over 239,000 Palestinians killed or wounded, the majority of them women and children, in addition to more than 11,000 people reported missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and widespread famine claiming the lives of many, most of them children. Large parts of Gaza’s towns and neighborhoods have been leveled, leaving vast areas wiped off the map.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=69876
