UPDATE - UNICEF warns malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza would 'skyrocket' if nutrition crisis not resolved

ADDS REMARKS BY WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION; ADDS STATEMENT BY GAZA MEDIA OFFICE; CHANGES LEDE

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The UNICEF on Tuesday warned that under the current circumstances, malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza would "skyrocket" as 15 children have been confirmed to have died of starvation in the northern strip.

"We are seeing those deaths that we long feared," spokesman James Elder told a UN press briefing in Geneva. "We are seeing deaths from those (malnutrition) and we will see those continue to skyrocket."

Recalling UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Adele Khodr's statement about the malnutrition in the northern Gaza Strip and in the south, in Rafah, Elder said the situation has "only gotten worse," and warned: "We'll see an explosion in child deaths and call that imminent if the burgeoning nutrition crisis isn't resolved."

Regarding the critical urgency of getting aid into the Gaza Strip, he said: "The malnutrition rates of (children) under-fives in the north are three times higher than those in Rafah."

"So, some evidence that when that trickle of aid can come in, it does make a life-saving difference," he added.

In a recent statement, the Gaza media office said the number of children dying of hunger in the north of the Gaza Strip and Gaza City, where humanitarian aid could not be delivered due to Israeli obstacles, increased to 15, and that 700,000 Palestinians were facing the threat of severe hunger.

- 1 in 6 children under age 2 acutely malnourished

The World Health Organization spokesperson told the briefing that the nutrition screenings conducted at shelters and health centers in the north found that 15.6%, or one in six children under the age of 2 are acutely malnourished.

Of these, almost 3% suffer from severe wasting, Richard Peeperkorn said, citing the data collected in January. Peeperkorn warned that the situation is likely to be "even graver" now.

Similar screenings in Rafah, where aid has been more available, found that 5% of children under age 2 are acutely malnourished, he added.

He stressed that wasting in the Gaza Strip was "rare" before the ongoing hostilities as it was affecting only 0.8% of children under age.

The rate of 15.6% of wasting among children under 2 in northern Gaza "suggests a serious and rapid decline," the spokesperson said.

"Such a decline in a population’s nutritional status in three months is unprecedented globally," Peeperkorn said.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas in October 2023, in which nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 30,631 Palestinians have been killed and 72,043 others injured during the Israeli deadly onslaught on Gaza.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught, while all of them are food insecure, according to the UN. Hundreds of thousands of people are living without shelter, and ⁠less than half of aid trucks are entering the territory than before the start of the conflict.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.