Image Source: Anadolu Ajansi
Occupied Gaza Strip – More than 5,000 children under the age of five were treated for acute malnutrition in Gaza during May alone, as conditions continue to deteriorate under Israel’s blockade.
This is according to UNICEF, which has raised alarm over the rapid rise in child hunger and disease across the Gaza Strip.
UNICEF said 5,119 children were admitted to its supported nutrition centres in May, a 50% increase compared to April and a 150% jump from February when a temporary ceasefire had allowed more aid to enter.
Of the total, 636 children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the most dangerous form that can lead to death if untreated.
“In just 150 days, from the start of the year until the end of May, 16,736 children – an average of 112 children a day – have been admitted for treatment for malnutrition in the Gaza Strip,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Every one of these cases is preventable. The food, water, and nutrition treatments they desperately need are being blocked from reaching them. Man-made decisions that are costing lives.”
Health System Collapse and Fuel Crisis Deepen the Emergency
UNICEF stated that it had managed to deliver some supplies over the past few weeks, but these were insufficient to meet the scale of the need. Stocks of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, essential for treating malnourished children, are running dangerously low.
At the same time, water and health systems are collapsing. Just 127 of 236 treatment centres are still operating. Fuel shortages are also threatening to shut down water production, sanitation and medical services.
Cases of diarrhoea now make up one in every four reported illnesses in children, and there are growing fears of a hepatitis A outbreak.
“This is an urgent warning,” said Beigbeder. “Concerted action is immediately needed to stop starvation from escalating, malnutrition from rising, disease from spreading, water from running dry, and ultimately, to prevent mounting, wholly preventable child deaths.”
UNICEF has called again for the immediate entry of humanitarian aid, the protection of civilians, and an end to the violence.
