Almost 10% of children under 5 in Gaza are acutely malnourished, says UN

Almost one in ten children under the age of five in Gaza is acutely malnourished, mainly as a result of Israel's war against Hamas in the enclave, according to the first United Nations (UN) data on health measurements. arm that show physical wear and tear.

The food supplies on which Gaza depends have been reduced from pre-war levels, and aid workers have reported visible signs of hunger, especially in the areas of northern and central Gaza hardest hit by Israel's war against Hamas since October 7th.

Measurements of the arm circumferences of thousands of young children and babies showed that 9.6% were acutely malnourished, an increase of about 12 times over pre-war levels, according to a note from the UN humanitarian office, The tea.

In northern Gaza, the rate was 16.2%, or one in six.

In recent weeks, food trucks have been regularly mobbed by hungry crowds before reaching the hospitals they were headed to, according to aid workers.

The charity ActionAid said some Gazans were eating grass. “Every person in Gaza is starving, and people only have 1.5 to 2 liters of drinking water per day to meet all their needs.”

According to Islamic Relief, a member of its team in Gaza said: “My children and I haven't eaten fruit or vegetables in months, and people are being killed when they try to meet the aid trucks arriving from the UN.”

International non-profit organization Project HOPE said around 15% of pregnant women assessed at its clinic in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza last week were found to be malnourished.

The organization also reported an increase in anemia, or iron deficiency, which can increase premature births and postpartum bleeding.

Dr. Santosh Kumar, the clinic's medical director, who returned from Gaza last week, said he and his team limited themselves to one meal a day in solidarity with Gazans.

“People are dying of hunger, people have no dignity,” he told Reuters. “I was told, ‘Dead people are luckier.”