Paris: The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on Wednesday issued an urgent warning that malnutrition among children in Gaza has tripled in less than six months.
According to Jordan News Agency, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini reported that recent data from the agency’s clinics in Gaza indicate nearly one in three children in Gaza City suffers from malnutrition. This alarming rate is six times higher than before the ceasefire collapse. UNRWA medical teams have screened nearly 100,000 children under the age of five in Gaza since March.
“This is not caused by a natural disaster but by preventable human-induced starvation,” Lazzarini stated, referring to restrictions over the past six months that have blocked aid deliveries to Gaza by UNRWA and other relief groups.
He emphasized that UNRWA warehouses in Egypt and Jordan have aid sufficient to fill 6,000 trucks, including three months’ worth of food, and renewed his call to allow lifesaving assistance to pass through UNRWA and other humanitarian organizations. Lazzarini warned that failing to do so could result in more children dying.