UNICEF warns of alarming rise in acute malnutrition among Gaza’s Children

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Sunday of a sharp increase in the number of children suffering from acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, noting that the figures have risen at an alarming rate in recent months.

In a post on X, monitored by the Yemeni News Agency (SABA), UNICEF stated that in February, around 2,000 children in Gaza were suffering from malnutrition. By June, that number had tripled, and it has since nearly doubled again—posing a grave threat to children’s lives.

UNICEF stressed that this rapid deterioration demands an urgent and large-scale response, emphasizing that prevention and treatment tools are available. However, the lack of safe and sustained humanitarian access renders them ineffective.

The agency called for the immediate large-scale entry of humanitarian aid and a ceasefire to protect the lives of children in Gaza.

Earlier in the day, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported five new deaths due to famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of famine and malnutrition victims to 217, including 100 children.

Palestinians in Gaza are facing an unprecedented wave of hunger since the Israeli occupation closed the Strip’s crossings in early March, imposing severe restrictions on the entry of food aid, relief supplies, fuel, and medicine.

Every minute, cases of malnutrition and starvation arrive at Gaza’s hospitals, where 900,000 children are suffering from hunger—70,000 of whom have reached severe malnutrition levels.