Children in Gaza are dying before they can reach hospitals as 96% of families lack clean water and malnutrition devastates the population, with UN officials warning the crisis is far from improving despite global perceptions, according to the latest announcement. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva that when food aid supports 30,000 children, “there are still 970,000 children not getting enough.
The scale of need is staggering across Gaza’s 2.2 million residents. Last Thursday, 71 kitchens delivered over 270,000 hot meals, including 10,000 to health facilities, but that’s nowhere near enough to feed everyone. UN officials say hundreds of trucks should be entering Gaza daily for months or years to come, not the current trickle of supplies getting through.
Health conditions keep getting worse as malnutrition weakens children’s immune systems and hinders their development. WHO reported 46 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome in July, including two deaths from the nervous system condition linked to poor nutrition and infections. The situation for pregnant women is equally alarming, with 40% of expectant or breastfeeding mothers suffering severe malnutrition while newborn deaths and stillbirths rise.
“Massive food shortages continue to impact people’s chances for survival,” said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq in New York. Some medicine has reached Gaza recently, but supplies remain limited while health workers operate under extreme pressure and shortages. Three UN fuel tankers reached Gaza City Monday to power critical services, but only at “bare minimum” capacity.
Aid groups stress they need urgent scaling up of supplies and a safe environment to reach people efficiently. Without sustained humanitarian assistance, Elder warned of “horrific results” as Gaza teeters on the brink of famine with people dying daily from preventable causes.
