Gaza children facing malnutrition, disease as Israeli attacks continue

After almost three months of Israeli bombardments of Gaza, malnutrition and disease are creating a deadly cycle that threatens over 1.1 million children in the ravaged enclave, according to the latest survey by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

A total of 90% of the 1.1 million young people in the region are not fully supplied with nutrients, the UN agency said.

“Children in the Gaza Strip face a deadly triple threat to their lives, as cases of diseases rise, nutrition plummets and the escalation in hostilities approaches its fourteenth week,” UNICEF said.

In the conflict which broke out on Oct 7, the number of Palestinians killed has risen to 22,600, most of them women and children.

“Children in Gaza are caught in a nightmare that worsens with every passing day,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director.

The report said that cases of diarrhoea in children under 5 years of age rose from 48,000 to 71,000 in just one week starting December 17, equivalent to 3,200 new cases of diarrhoea per day.

It added that displaced children and their families are unable to maintain the necessary hygiene levels needed to prevent disease, given the alarming lack of safe water and sanitation.The report affirmed that prolonged diarrhoea put children at high risk of death.

“The futures of thousands more children in Gaza hang in the balance. The world cannot stand by and watch. The violence and the suffering of children must stop,” Russell said.

People were clamoring for food and children were scrambling for leftovers in Gaza on Saturday, January 6.

Footage filmed by local journalist Amr Tabash shows people trying to reach a pot of hot food and children grabbing food with their hands before putting it in their pots. The video also shows a young girl waiting on the side with an empty bowl.

On Friday, UNICEF said that the deteriorating situation in Gaza “is raising concerns about acute malnutrition and mortality breaching famine thresholds”.