Of the tens of thousands of children examined during the second half of May, 5.8 percent were found to suffer from acute malnutrition, according to Ocha, the UN's coordination body for humanitarian aid.
This means that the situation has deteriorated rapidly and strongly. Just since the first half of May, the number of diagnoses has increased by 4.7 percent. Compared to February, three times as many children are now suffering from acute malnutrition, according to Ocha.
For more and more of the children, the situation is said to be so bad that they have to be hospitalized. In war-torn Gaza, where hospitals and healthcare facilities have been bombed by Israel time and time again, there are however fewer and fewer clinics that can treat malnutrition in children. Currently, there are four: two in Dayr al-Balah, one in Khan Yunis and one in Gaza City. Others in northern Gaza and in Rafah in the south have been forced to close.
Since January, a total of over 16,500 children in Gaza have been diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition that requires immediate treatment. UN-supported initiatives have also had their stocks of nutritional supplements plundered several times, writes Ocha.
According to the UN body, more and more pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are also suffering from acute malnutrition. Over the past two months, their nutritional status is said to have deteriorated sharply - which in the long run affects the children.
After just over two months of total blockade, Israel resumed deliveries of emergency aid to Gaza at the end of May. The food that comes in is described as far from sufficient, and the distributions have been marked by reports of deadly shootings and general chaos.
