UNICEF warns of an unprecedented increase in the number of deaths of children in Gaza due to malnutrition

Geneva-(ST)- The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned of an imminent explosion in the number of child deaths related to malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, which is witnessing continuous aggression by the Israeli occupation forces since the 7th of last October, explaining that death rates in the northern Gaza Strip are three times higher than those recorded in the south.

“We are seeing deaths due to malnutrition that we have feared for a long time,” said James Durr, spokesman of the organization, in a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, supposing that “those deaths will continue to rise.”

He added: “We will see an imminent explosion in child deaths if the worsening nutrition crisis in Gaza is not resolved,” noting that “malnutrition rates among children under the age of five in the north are three times higher than those in Rafah in the south.”

He considered that “the arrival of a small amount of aid may make a difference in saving lives,” warning that “in addition to hunger, there is an increasing risk of the spread of infectious diseases, as 9 out of 10 children under the age of five, about 220,000 children, became ill during the past weeks.”

Director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned yesterday in a post on the “X” platform of severe levels of malnutrition and thus the children in Gaza Strip are dying of hunger.

Gaza is witnessing a severe scarcity of food, water, medicine and fuel supplies as the brutal Israeli aggression against the Strip continues for the sixth month in a row.

The occupation continues its war of starvation and preventing the entry of aid since the 7th of last October, leavung 30,631 martyrs and 72,043 wounded.

Hanan Shamout