Almost 10% of Gaza’s under-fives now acutely malnourished, UN says

Almost one in 10 of Gazan children under five are now acutely malnourished, overwhelmingly as a result of Israel’s war on the territory’s Hamas rulers, according to initial U.N. data from arm measurements that show physical wasting.

The food supplies that Gaza depends on have shrivelled from their pre-war level, and aid workers have reported visible signs of starvation, especially in areas of northern and central Gaza worst hit by Israel’s war on Hamas since Oct. 7.

Measurements of thousands of young children’s and infants’ arm circumferences showed that 9.6% were acutely malnourished, up about 12 times from pre-war levels, according to a note from the U.N. humanitarian office, OCHA.

In northern Gaza, the rate was 16.2%, or one in six.

Food trucks have in recent weeks regularly been mobbed by hungry crowds before they could reach the hospitals they were heading for, according to aid workers.

The charity ActionAid said some Gazans were eating grass. “Every single person in Gaza is now hungry, and people have just 1.5 to 2 litres of unsafe water per day to meet all their needs,” it said.

via Reuters