TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - One in ten Palestinian children examined at clinics run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza suffer from malnutrition, revealed UNRWA on Tuesday.
"Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March," said UNRWA Communications Director Juliette Touma to reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan as quoted by Arab News.
UNRWA's Commissioner General, Philippe Lazzarini, on a separate occasion, emphasized that the increasing child famine crisis in the Gaza Strip is indeed 'engineered'. He issued a strong warning on Tuesday about the extremely severe levels of malnutrition affecting children in the besieged area.
"One in 10 children screened in UNRWA medical facilities is malnourished," wrote Lazzarini in an X as quoted by Anadolu. "Malnutrition among children in Gaza has increased amid severe shortages of nutrition supplies."
He mentioned a 7-month-old baby named Salam who died from malnutrition last week, a tragic symbol of the worsening crisis. "Before the war, malnutrition was rare in Gaza. Now it is engineered & man-made," he emphasized.
The head of the humanitarian agency also condemned the deadly consequences of the food distribution system managed by the US military contractor-supported Israel (GHF).
"More than 870 starving people were killed while desperately trying to access food from a flawed distribution system," he noted.
Lazzarini urged immediate action, emphasizing the urgent need for unimpeded humanitarian access. "The UN including UNRWA and partners must be allowed to do their work & bring in humanitarian assistance at scale including for children."
He called for an end to the violence: "Any additional delay to a ceasefire now will cause more deaths."
The Gaza Strip has faced extreme restrictions on food, medical aid, and fuel amid the war with Israel.
The UN and human rights organizations have repeatedly warned about the famine conditions, especially impacting the most vulnerable groups-children.
The Gaza Health Ministry stated that the number of fatalities has exceeded 58,000. The UN considers the data accurate.
"There’s at least 17,000 children reported killed within that toll. Those aren’t numbers. Those are boys and girls. There are toddlers and babies," said UNICEF spokesperson Rosalia Bollen.
At least 998 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 others injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers since the start of Israel's latest genocide war in Gaza in October 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In a crucial opinion last July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
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