The UN agency warns malnutrition crisis worsens across Gaza, with dramatic rises in affected children under two and under five.
One in three children under the age of two in the northern Gaza Strip suffers from acute malnutrition, the United Nations’ children agency has warned, as Israel’s total blockade of aid enters its third week.
In a statement on Saturday, UNICEF said fast-spreading malnutrition among children in Gaza is reaching “devastating and unprecedented levels” due to the deep effects of Israel’s war and ongoing curbs on the delivery of aid into the territory.
The agency said acute malnutrition had doubled in a month, affecting 31 percent of children under two in February, compared with 15.6 percent in January. Among children under five, acute malnutrition has surged from 13 to 25 percent, it added, citing nutrition screenings carried out by UNICEF and its partners.
“The speed at which this catastrophic child malnutrition crisis in Gaza has unfolded is shocking, especially when desperately needed assistance has been at the ready just a few miles away,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director.
She added that despite repeated attempts to deliver aid, the situation for children in Gaza “is getting worse by each passing day”.
“Our efforts in providing life-saving aid are being hampered by unnecessary restrictions, and those are costing children their lives,” Russell said.
Israel’s aid blockade prompts outcry
Israel halted the entry of all aid supplies to Gaza on March 2, hours after the first phase of its fragile ceasefire deal with the Palestinian group Hamas expired, raising fears of “deepening hunger” and more hardships for the territory’s population. Israel has also cut electricity to a crucial water desalination plant, threatening Gaza’s potable water supply.
Rights organisations have accused Israel of crimes against humanity and violations of international laws for cutting off aid to Gaza. Palestinian health officials say nearly 50,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed in Israel’s war on the enclave, with thousands more missing under the rubble and presumed dead, and 70 percent of Gaza’s buildings and roads damaged after 15 months of Israeli bombardment.
“At least 23 children in Northern Gaza Strip have reportedly died from malnutrition and dehydration in recent weeks, adding to the mounting toll of children killed in the Strip in this current conflict,” UNICEF said.
It added that 4.5 percent of children in health centres and shelters suffered from severe wasting – the deadliest form of malnutrition, “which puts children at highest risk of medical complications and death”.
Screenings in the southern city of Khan Younis found that 28 percent of children under two are acutely malnourished, with 10 percent suffering from severe wasting.
“Even in Rafah, the southern enclave with the most access to aid, the results from screenings among children under 2 years doubled from 5 per cent who were acutely malnourished in January to about 10 per cent by the end of February,” the UN agency noted.
“Acute malnutrition among children has continued to rise rapidly and at scale and there is a high risk it will continue to increase across the Gaza Strip, costing more lives, in the absence of more humanitarian assistance and the restoration of essential services.”
UNICEF’s Russell said while they were “doing everything” to avert a major humanitarian crisis, it was not enough.
“An immediate humanitarian ceasefire continues to provide the only chance to save children’s lives and end their suffering.”