The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has said that deliberate actions in Gaza, such as blocking and restricting humanitarian aid, appear calculated to inflict physical destruction on Palestinian children. She stated that children in Gaza are dying of hunger and are being cut off from food, “even crumbs are difficult to find.”
In a press statement, the Committee on the Rights of the Child said that Israel, the occupying power, prevents or imposes severe restrictions on the entry of relief, food and other basic life-saving supplies.
The committee noted reports of the death of 27 children due to malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in the Strip. It is likely that the real number of people dying from starvation is much higher and is expected to increase.
She said that one in three children under the age of two years in northern Gaza suffers from acute malnutrition, a significant increase from the rate recorded in January, which was 15.6%.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report in Gaza stated that famine is imminent in the north of the Strip from mid-March until May. There are about 300,000 people in the two northern governorates of Gaza.
The report estimates that half of the Strip’s population, about 1.1 million people, will face catastrophic levels of hunger and the most severe levels of food insecurity over the next four months until mid-July if the conflict escalates, including a possible offensive operation in Rafah.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child noted the order issued by the International Court of Justice for Israel to take all measures within its authority to prevent the commission of all acts falling within the scope of Article II of the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide, including the killing of members of a group and to prevent and punish direct and public incitement to commit genocide, and enabling the provision of humanitarian aid.
The committee said in its statement: “Since the International Court of Justice’s order was issued on January 26, and by March 19, more than 108 Palestinians have been killed and 178 others injured daily on average in Gaza, including children.”
She stated, “The imminent invasion of Rafah will push the fragile situation to the breaking point, exposing the lives of 600,000 children to immediate danger and quickly leading to famine.”
The UN Committee called on countries to resume and strengthen funding for UNRWA, and urged the opening of multiple land crossings to allow increased humanitarian access to parts of the Strip, including northern Gaza.
