UN says every child under five in Gaza at risk of malnourishment

The warning comes as the Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry registers more cases of paralysis due to malnutrition.

The United Nations has warned that all children of Gaza under the age of five are at risk of life-threatening malnourishment, amid growing reports of starvation-related deaths as Israel continues to block aid from entering the besieged Gaza Strip.

The UN’s World Food Programme said children in this age bracket – around 320,000 in number – have been affected by the collapse of nutrition services and are lacking access to safe water, breast milk substitutes and therapeutic feeding.

Paediatrician Seema Jilani told Al Jazeera that malnutrition “affects their entire body”, putting children at risk of multi-organ failure. She also said that starvation in Gaza is traumatic for children and that “developmental milestones will be missed”.

Hospitals in Gaza on Monday recorded six new deaths from famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, including one child, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The total number of people who died from hunger-related causes since the start of the war now stands at 181, including 94 children.

The ministry also sounded the alarm over a “serious escalation” in cases of acute soft paralysis among children as a result of “infections and acute malnutrition”.