UNICEF warns of ‘imminent explosion’ in children’s malnutrition deaths in Gaza

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday of an “imminent explosion” in the number of child deaths due to malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, explaining that malnutrition rates in children in the northern Gaza Strip are “three times higher” than those recorded in the south.

UNICEF spokesman James Elder said in a press conference at the UN headquarters in Geneva that deaths due to malnutrition have been “feared” for a long time. “We see that these deaths will continue to rise. We will see an imminent explosion in child deaths if the worsening nutrition crisis is not resolved.”

Regarding the restrictions imposed on the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, Elder pointed out that the arrival of a small amount of aid may make a difference in saving lives. “In addition to hunger, there is an increasing risk of the spread of infectious diseases, as nine out of every 10 children under the age of five — about 220,000 — have become ill over the past weeks.”

Earlier on Monday, WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that civilians, especially children and health workers in the Gaza Strip, need immediate assistance. Ghebreyesus warned on X of “severe levels of malnutrition and children dying of hunger” in northern Gaza.

When Israel launched its devastating war on the besieged Gaza Strip in October, it cut off supplies of fuel, food, water and medicine completely. As the occupying power in Gaza, the Zionist state has a duty under international law to maintain such supplies to the people living under its occupation.

READ: Gaza’s hungry await aid despite convoy deaths amid dispute over supplies