Thousands of Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip are facing an increased threat of starvation, the United Nations has warned, as Israel’s continued blockade of food, water and other critical supplies to the besieged and bombarded coastal territory enters its third month.
The UN’s child rights agency (UNICEF) said on Friday that more than 9,000 children had been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition since the start of the year.
But the situation has worsened since Israel imposed a total blockade on the Palestinian enclave in early March.
“For two months, children in the Gaza Strip have faced relentless bombardments while being deprived of essential goods, services and lifesaving care,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.
“With each passing day of the aid blockade, they face the growing risk of starvation, illness and death – nothing can justify this.”
Israel has blocked all humanitarian assistance from reaching Palestinians in Gaza since March 2, spurring international condemnation.
The UN’s World Food Programme said last week that its food supplies had been “depleted” amid the siege, warning that community kitchens upon which thousands of Palestinians rely would be forced to close.
“We don’t ask if food is nutritious or not, if it’s fresh or good; that’s a luxury, we just want to fill the stomachs of our children,” a displaced Palestinian parent recently told Amnesty International about the crisis. “I don’t want my child to die hungry.”
The Israeli government has said its blockade is intended to put pressure on Palestinian group Hamas to release captives held in Gaza. But it has not led to any more releases since the fleeting ceasefire earlier this year, which saw Palestinian prisoners exchanged for Israeli captives.
Meanwhile, Hamas official Abdel Rahman Shadid on Friday accused Israel of using starvation as a “deliberate weapon of war” against Palestinians.
“Children are dying from the lack of milk, not just from bombs,” Shadid said in a statement published on the group’s Telegram channel.
Legal experts and human rights groups have noted that, as an occupying power, Israel has an obligation under international law to provide food and other assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
They have condemned the blockade as a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians of all ages are experiencing high levels of food insecurity in Gaza, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, a global hunger watchdog.
Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, told Al Jazeera that the situation is worsening quickly as health facilities lack the supplies needed to treat children grappling with malnutrition.
“We have no food supplies or supplementary materials or medications for these children,” Shawa told Al Jazeera from Gaza City. “There is high concern that we will witness more casualties in the coming few days,” he added.
At Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, Dr Ahmed Abu Nasir said the situation has become worse than ever due to the blockade.
“Children are in their growing stage and badly need certain nutrients, including proteins and fats,” the paediatrician told Al Jazeera. “These are not available in the Gaza Strip, particularly in the north.”
More than 52,400 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry.
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