March 1 (UPI) — Ten children have starved to death in Gaza, according to a United Nations report released Friday. Even more child starvation deaths are feared.
U.N. World Health Organization spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said in a statement that the official record as of Friday states 10 children have died in Gaza hospitals from malnutrition and dehydration.
“A very sad threshold … [but] the unofficial numbers can unfortunately be expected to be higher,” Lindmeier said.
Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas has led to one in four Palestinians facing “catastrophic levels” of food insecurity, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The U.N. and European Union have called for an investigation into an incident Thursday when over 100 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in northern Gaza while awaiting food and aid from a relief convoy.
Hamas accused the Israel Defense Force of opening fire on Palestinians seeking aid, but the IDF denied any wrongdoing and claimed the victims were trampled after the crowd rushed the convoy.
Humanitarian organizations have told the U.N. Security Council that the pattern of attacks by the IDF against hospitals and relief convoys was “either intentional or indicative of reckless incompetence.”
“We saw pictures from Al-Shifa [hospital] where victims … were lying next to each other waiting for any treatment,” Lindmeier said, noting all of Gaza’s water and electricity has “more or less been cut” since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.
OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said the conflict has made finding food in Gaza “almost impossible.”
“Putting food on the table … has completely stopped. The very foundation for people’s daily sustenance is being ripped away.”
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which is used by aid agencies as a reference, indicated the entire population of Gaza [about 2.1 million] faces “crisis” levels of food insecurity, about 50% [1.17 million] of the population face “emergency” levels of food insecurity, and around half a million people are facing “catastrophic conditions.”
