Crisis in Gaza: Malnutrition and its Devastating Impact on Children

Malnutrition rates in Gaza are escalating, with severe implications for children, according to WHO. An ongoing Israeli blockade restricts supplies, raising starvation risks for many. WHO has resources to aid only a fraction of affected children, with numerous fatalities recorded. Chronic malnutrition could impair an entire generation's health.

Increasing malnutrition rates in Gaza are posing severe risks to children, potentially affecting a whole generation, the World Health Organization's representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory warned this Tuesday.

The continuous Israeli blockade, enforced since March, has severely restricted supplies, intensifying a humanitarian crisis. It coincides with Israel's renewed military actions against Hamas. A significant international hunger report on Monday highlighted cases where half a million residents faced the threat of starvation, a concern echoed by WHO's Rik Peeperkorn. He encountered children in clinics who appeared years younger than their actual ages and reported that 11% of children screened in a northern Gaza hospital suffered from acute malnutrition.

Israel accuses Hamas of redirecting aid, a claim Hamas refutes, amid insufficient WHO resources to adequately treat the crisis, with only enough stocks to aid 500 children currently available. Alarmingly, 55 children have succumbed to acute malnutrition, based on Gaza Health Ministry statistics. Peeperkorn highlighted that the main cause of death is not starvation itself but diseases like pneumonia and gastroenteritis that afflict malnourished children due to weakened immunity.

(With inputs from agencies.)