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full screen Efforts to reach Gaza with food and supplies continue. Recently, parachutes with food supplies have been dropped over northern Gaza. Archive image. Photo: Leo Correa/AP/TT
Almost every third child under the age of two suffers from acute malnutrition in northern Gaza, reports the UN children’s agency Unicef. The figure – 31 percent – is significantly higher than in January, when it was estimated that 15.6 percent of children in the age range were affected.
At least 23 children in northern Gaza have died of malnutrition and dehydration in recent weeks.
About 4.5 percent of children in shelters and care facilities suffer from the most lethal type of malnutrition, which can lead to death if the child does not receive immediate treatment.
Unicef director Catherine Russel says the organization’s demands to come forward with aid supplies have not helped.
“Instead, the situation for children is getting worse with each passing day. Our efforts to provide life-saving help are hampered by unnecessary restrictions, and they are costing children their lives,” she said in a statement.