Poverty, deteriorating economic conditions and food insecurity in the blockaded Gaza Strip are taking a heavy toll on children.
A recent survey by Land of Humanity, a Palestinian NGO specializing in children’s health services, found that 6 percent of Gaza’s children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition and weight loss. The report also found that 28 percent of Gaza’s children suffer from anaemia.
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“These results are really alarming,” Adnan el-Wahidi, executive director of Land of Humanity, said. “The main victims of the worsening economic and humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip are children.”
Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel has maintained a tight blockade of the Strip, a move that has ravaged its economy and shaved off around 50 percent of its gross domestic product.