Nearly 12,000 Toddlers In Gaza Experience Acute Malnutrition

Residents waiting for food in a public kitchen in the western Gaza City/DOK UN News

JAKARTA - Around 12,000 children under five in Gaza suffer from acute malnutrition. The death rate from hunger continues to increase.

"In July, nearly 12,000 children under five were identified as suffering from acute malnutrition in Gaza, the highest monthly number ever recorded," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

It was reported that 99 people died, including 64 adults and 35 children, 29 of whom were under five, from the beginning of this year until July 29.

Between June and July, the number of patients treated for malnutrition nearly doubled - from 6,344 to 11,877 - according to UNICEF's latest data.

Around 2,500 children are suffering from severe malnutrition.

Tedros called for an increase in the volume of aids, through all possible routes.

WHO says it supports four malnutrition centers in Gaza, but the supply of baby formula milk and nutritious food is very low.

"The overall volume of nutritional supplies is still very insufficient to prevent further damage. Markets need to be flooded. There needs to be food diversity," said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the occupied Palestinian Territory.

A global hunger monitoring agency says hunger is widespread in the Gaza Strip.

Children died of causes of starvation, and humanitarian access to war-torn enclaves was severely restricted.

The United Nations (OCHA) Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office said food consumption across Gaza had declined to its lowest level since the start of the war.

Eightty-one percent of households in small, densely populated coastal areas with 2.2 million people reported poor food consumption, up from 33% in April.