Since the start of the aid blockade on March 2, 57 children have been died of the effects of malnutrition, according to the Ministry of Health.
If the situation persists, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five should be ill -fed over the next 11 months.
Information journalists in Geneva, which is representative of the occupied Palestinian territory, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, said that the full embargo of help from Israel had left that who responds to 500 children with acute malnutrition – “a fraction of the urgent need”
“People are trapped in this cycle where a lack of food, malnutrition and diversified disease align each other,” he warned.
Dr. Peeperkorn’s comments follow the publication on Monday of a new analysis by the food security alert -alert supported by the UN known as CIP showing that a person in five in Gaza – 500,000 – faces famine, while the total population of 2.1 million of the band is subject to prolonged food shortages. Who is a member of the IPC.
A crisis of growing hunger
“It is one of the worst world hunger crises, which takes place in real time,” said Dr. Peeperkorn.
The representative of the United Nations health agency spoke of its recent visit to Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza, where more than 300 children are projected in a nutrition center supported by WHO every day. During the visit, the hospital reported more than 11% of cases of acute global malnutrition.
Describing the touched children, he said: “I saw them [in the] Wards… a five -year -old child, and I thought he was two and a half years old. ”
WHO supports 16 ambulatory malnutrition treatment centers and three patients hospitalized in the enclave with rescue supplies, but stopping aid by Israel and reducing humanitarian access threatens its ability to support these operations.
Dr. Peeperkorn insisted on long -term damage caused by malnutrition which “can last a lifetime”, with impacts including stunted growth, cognitive development and altered health.
“Without enough nutritious food, drinking water, access to health care, an entire generation will be permanently assigned,” he warned.
The OMS official stressed that the agency raised itself “constantly” with the Israeli authorities the need to put supplies in the band. Some 31 years that help the trucks are at the stop of Al-Adrish in Egypt just a few tens of kilometers from the border crossing of Rafah with Gaza and more supplies are positioned in the West Bank, ready to move “any day when this is authorized”.
“Health care is not a target”
Turning to attacks against health care, Dr. Peeperkorn said that the Nasser medical complex in the southern city of Khan Younis would have been struck by an Israeli air strike on Tuesday, killing two and injuring 12. The attack led to the loss of 18 hospital beds in the surgical service, including eight “critical” beds.
The media reported that a Palestinian journalist had been killed during the attack during the treatment of injuries suffered in a previous air strike.
“Health care is not a target,” concluded Dr. Peeperkorn. He reiterated the calls for the protection of health establishments, an immediate end to aid blockade, the release of all the hostages held by Palestinian armed groups and a ceasefire “which leads to lasting peace”.
