Acute child malnutrition in northern Gaza doubles in one month, UNICEF says

As Israel’s total aid blockade comes into its third week, one in three children under the age of two in the northern Gaza Strip is suffering from acute malnutrition, according to the UN’s children’s agency.

UNICEF stated in a statement on Saturday that the rapid-growing malnutrition among children in Gaza is “devastating and unprecedented” as a result of Israel’s war’s deepening restrictions on aid entry.

In February, the agency reported that 31 percent of children under the age of two were affected by acute malnutrition, up from 15.6% in January, a month earlier. According to the report, acute malnutrition has increased from 13 to 25% among children under five, citing nutrition screenings carried out by UNICEF and its partners.

The development of this devastating child malnutrition crisis in Gaza is shocking, especially when urgently needed assistance is readily available a short distance, according to UNICEF’s executive director Catherine Russell.

She continued, “the situation for children in Gaza is getting worse by every day,” despite repeated attempts to provide aid.

“Unnecessary restrictions are preventing our efforts to provide life-saving aid,” according to Russell.

Israel’s aid embargo causes outcry.

On March 2, Israel halted Gaza’s entry to all aid supplies just after the end of its tense ceasefire with Hamas, raising concerns about “deepening hunger” and additional hardships for the area’s population. A crucial water desalination plant’s electricity has also been cut, putting a threat to Gaza’s potable water supply.

Israel has been accused of violating international law and crimes against humanity for cutting off Gaza aid, according to human rights organizations. Nearly 50, 000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed in Israel’s war on the territory, according to Palestinian health officials, with thousands more missing under the rubble and presumed dead. In Gaza, 70% of the city’s buildings and roads have been damaged in the 15 months of Israeli bombardment.

According to UNICEF, at least 23 children have died in the Northern Gaza Strip from malnutrition and dehydration in recent weeks, adding to the rising number of children killed in the Strip during this current conflict.

The report added that severe wasting, the most fatal type of malnutrition, “puts children at highest risk of medical complications and death” affected 4.5 percent of children in hospitals and shelters.

In Khan Younis, in the southern city of Khan Younis, a screening revealed that 28% of children under two are acutely malnourished, and 10% have severe wasting.

The UN agency noted that the screenings of children under the age of two doubled from 5 % who were acutely malnourished in January to about 10 percent by the end of February even in Rafah, the southern enclave with the most access to aid.

In the absence of more humanitarian aid and the restoration of essential services, acute malnutrition has continued to rise rapidly and at a rate, and there is a high chance that it will continue to rise in the Gaza Strip.

Russell of UNICEF claimed that their efforts to prevent a major humanitarian crisis were insufficient.