Gaza is on the brink of famine, with one in three people enduring days without food, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The agency has issued an urgent call for international action as Israel’s ongoing war exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in the region.
UNICEF’s deputy executive director for humanitarian action, Ted Chaiban, stated on Friday that over 320,000 young children in Gaza are at risk of acute malnutrition, with indicators surpassing the famine threshold. “We are at a crossroads, and the choices made now will determine whether tens of thousands of children live or die,” Chaiban said after visiting Israel, Gaza, and the occupied West Bank.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reports 162 starvation deaths, including 92 children, with 17-year-old Atef Abu Khater among the latest victims. Khater, previously healthy, died of malnutrition on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera, citing al-Shifa Hospital sources.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 60,000 Palestinians, including over 18,000 children, with many more presumed dead under rubble. Gaza residents, like journalist Ahmed al-Najjar in Khan Younis, describe a state of “engineered Israeli genocidal chaos,” with constant fear of bombardment, starvation, and a lack of security. “There is no presence of police or security forces in the streets,” al-Najjar told Al Jazeera, highlighting the targeting of police in so-called safe zones.
Israel’s blockade of food aid, briefly eased in May, has worsened the crisis. The controversial Gaza Humanitarian Framework (GHF), backed by Israel and the US, has been accused of rights violations, with over 1,300 Palestinians reportedly killed while seeking aid, some allegedly shot by Israeli soldiers or US contractors. International pressure recently led Israel to allow more aid and implement daily “tactical pauses” in military operations to facilitate aid delivery.
US envoy Steve Witkoff visited a GHF aid site in Gaza on Friday, aiming to improve food and medical aid distribution. Meanwhile, Western and Arab governments have begun airdrops, though UNICEF’s Chaiban emphasized that airdrops cannot match the scale of road convoys, urging for 500 daily humanitarian and commercial trucks. He called the situation “inhumane,” stressing the need for a sustained ceasefire and a political resolution to save Gaza’s children.
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