1 in 6 children malnourished in northern Gaza: UN

A study by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has found that an increasing number of children in the northern Gaza Strip are suffering from “severe malnutrition” and becoming stranded as Israel expands its military operations in the region.

report, Published this week by Global Nutrition Cluster One in six children under the age of two in northern Gaza is malnourished, and an estimated 3 percent of this group experience severe wasting or are underweight for their age and height, according to a UNICEF-led aid partnership. It turned out that there was not enough.

The nutritional situation of women and children is deteriorating across the country, but in northern Gaza in particular, where more than four months of war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have caused extensive damage, the report found. Ta.

Malnutrition in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, has also deteriorated significantly, with more than half of the enclave’s population fleeing amid fighting elsewhere. Israel has vowed to expand operations into Rafah to ensure the complete defeat of Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

Rafah is the only place in the Gaza Strip where humanitarian aid continues to enter the enclave, along with UN humanitarian leaders. caveat About the dire consequences of expanding military operations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to develop a civilian evacuation plan ahead of the invasion to address concerns. Some evacuations were ordered Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

Hamas launched a surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping an estimated 250, prompting Israel to launch a ground and air bombardment of Gaza. More than 29,000 Palestinians, more than 80% of the region’s population, were found dead or displaced, according to the Associated Press.

The report also found that 90 percent of children under the age of two and pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza eat two or fewer food groups a day, known as severe food poverty. revealed. The food available to them is also the “least nutritious,” according to the report.

At least 90% of children under 5 have one or more infectious diseases, and 70% have experienced diarrhea in the past two weeks, which analysts describe as an “unprecedented rise in infections.” ” is called.

The study also found that more than 80% of households lack safe, clean water, with the average household having access to less than 1 liter of water per person per day.

Analysts said nutritional status would continue to deteriorate rapidly, especially in areas where humanitarian assistance is limited.

“The Gaza Strip will see an explosion in preventable child deaths, adding to the already intolerable levels of child deaths in Gaza,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian and Logistics Operations. said board member Ted Chaiban. said in a statement.

The Biden administration has worked in recent weeks with negotiators from Qatar and Egypt to broker a long-term peace plan that would halt fighting, free the remaining hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and create a Palestinian state. ing. .

Prime Minister Netayanhu has rejected a two-state solution, saying last week that such a plan would amount to a “huge payback” for Hamas, which was attacked in the first place.