United Nations humanitarian workers said on Friday that so little humanitarian aid is reaching people in Gaza that children are starving, and renewed a call for Israel to respect international law regarding the safe passage of life-saving relief aid into the war-torn enclave.
The WHO warning follows a finding that more than four out of five children “did not eat for a whole day at least once in three days”.
While speaking to reporters in Geneva on Friday, World Health Organization spokeswoman Dr. Margaret Harris said: “These are children under the age of five who do not get food all day. So the question is: Are the supplies arriving? The answer is no, the children are starving.”
Additional alarming data from the Rapid Food Insecurity Survey indicates that almost all young people surveyed in Gaza now eat two different food groups daily, while the WHO recommendation is at least five.
Since mid-January, more than 93,400 children under the age of five have been screened for malnutrition in Gaza; Of these, 7,280 children were found to be suffering from acute malnutrition, including 5,604 suffering from moderate acute malnutrition and 1,676 suffering from severe acute malnutrition, according to an update issued this week by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
