UNRWA Chief Worries Children In Malficient From Nutrition Died In Israeli Military Operations In Gaza

Children in Gaza queue for clean water. (Twitter/@UNRWA)

JAKARTA - The head of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees on Thursday expressed concern that children suffering from malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, Palestine will die if emergency measures are not immediately implemented during Israeli military operations in Gaza City.

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said their data showed the number of children malnourished in Gaza City had increased sixfold since March.

"We have a very weak population that will be faced with major new military operations," he said at a meeting in Geneva.

"Many of them will not have the power to undergo new evacuations," he continued.

"Many of them will not survive," he said of the children, speaking to the audience in French.

"This is artificial and intentional hunger. Food has been used as a tool of war," he said.

In May, global hunger monitors said half a million people in the Gaza Strip were facing starvation, but did not use the term hunger.

Meanwhile, Israel's military agency coordinating aid, COGAT, previously said it was investing large efforts to ensure aid reaches Gaza and denies limiting supply.

Separately, hospitals in the Gaza Strip recorded two deaths from hunger and malnutrition, bringing the total of those killed as a result of this to 271 people, with 112 of them children, quoted from WAFA.

Medical sources in Gaza noted on Thursday that the death toll in the Gaza Strip since the Israeli aggression in October 2023 had risen to 62,192 people, most of whom were children and women.

The same source added that the number of injured victims had risen to 157,114 since the start of the Israeli attack, while a number of victims were still buried by the rubble and could not be reached by ambulances and rescue teams.