Gaza City: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported that one in 10 children examined in the clinics it operates in Gaza suffers from malnutrition. “Our health teams confirm that malnutrition rates in Gaza have increased, especially since the tightening of the blockade more than four months ago on March 2,” UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma said in Geneva via video link from the Jordanian capital, Amman.
According to Union of OIC News Agencies, UNRWA has examined more than 240 children under the age of five in its clinics since January 2024. Juliette Touma highlighted that malnutrition was rarely detected in the Gaza Strip before the recent conflict escalated.
Medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that the number of children killed due to malnutrition has reached 67. Additionally, more than 650,000 children under the age of five face an immediate risk of severe malnutrition in the coming weeks, out of a total of 1.1 million children in the Strip.
