UN Warns: 1 Million Gaza Children Face Starvation
Global Outcry as Gaza Children Face Starvation Amid Blockade
Gaza: Disturbing images of children clutching empty pots in long queues for food aid have sparked international outrage, highlighting a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has warned that one million children are at risk of starvation and called for an end to the siege to allow life-saving food and medicine to reach civilians.
āMalnutrition rates have risen rapidly since the tightened blockade on March 2,ā said Juliette Touma, UNRWA Director of Communications, speaking from Amman. UNRWA reports that over 240,000 children under five have been screened in its clinics since January 2024, with cases of severe malnutrition ā previously rare ā increasing sharply. UNICEF reported that more than 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in July alone, including over 1,000 with severe acute malnutrition.
Although Israel lifted an 11-week blockade in May to allow limited UN aid, UNRWA remains largely unable to deliver supplies. Fuel, medicines, and hygiene products are nearly depleted. Israelās COGAT agency says 67,000 trucks carrying 1.5 million tonnes of food, including 2,000 tons of baby food, have entered Gaza, but allegations persist of aid diversion. In response, Israel and the U.S. created the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, operated by private U.S. firms, which the UN has refused to work with.
On Monday, the UK and 24 other Western nations, including France, Canada, Australia, and Italy, issued a joint call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, warning that Gazaās humanitarian situation has reached ānew depths.ā
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