UN warns of ‘explosion’ in Gaza child deaths amid combination of disease, hunger

The United Nations has warned that spread of diseases and acute malnutrition could spark an “explosion” in preventable child deaths in the Gaza Strip amid the genocidal Israeli war.

In a joint assessment published on Monday, the UN agencies for children, food and health said a “steep rise in malnutrition” among children, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, in Gaza poses grave threats to their health. 

They added that food and safe water have become “incredibly scarce” while diseases are “rife” in the besieged Palestinian territory.

The report also indicated that more than 15 percent of children under the age of two in northern Gaza - one in six - were acutely malnourished, while three percent were suffering from life-threatening severe wasting.

“The Gaza Strip is poised to witness an explosion in preventable child deaths which would compound the already unbearable level of child deaths in Gaza,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations Ted Chaiban.

“We’ve been warning for weeks that the Gaza Strip is on the brink of a nutrition crisis. If the conflict doesn’t end now, children’s nutrition will continue to plummet, leading to preventable deaths or health issues.”

The agencies further warned that “the situation is likely to be even graver today” as the data for their report had been collected in January.

At least 90 percent of Gaza children under five are affected by one or more infectious diseases, the analysis said, adding that 70 percent had suffered from diarrhea in the two weeks prior to the assessment, marking a 23-fold increase compared to the 2022 baseline.

“Hunger and disease are a deadly combination,” said Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme

”Hungry, weakened and deeply traumatized children are more likely to get sick, and children who are sick, especially with diarrhea, cannot absorb nutrients well. It’s dangerous, and tragic, and happening before our eyes.”

The UN assessment also warned that without more humanitarian aid, the nutritional situation in Gaza is likely to continue to deteriorate rapidly and at scale across the Gaza Strip.

Israel waged a brutal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out its historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 29,092 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 69,028 others.

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