Over 7,000 Under-Fives Enrolled in Malnutrition Recovery Programs in Gaza in Just Two Weeks

Between August 15 and 31, more than 7,000 children under the age of five in Gaza were placed in malnutrition recovery programs run by UNICEF, a staggering surge in a single two-week span. The total for August is expected to exceed 15,000 new admissions, marking a sevenfold increase compared to figures from February.

UNICEF officials sounded the alarm: famine has been officially declared in Gaza City, with towns such as Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis edging rapidly toward similar catastrophic conditions. Food shortages, malnutrition, and inadequate aid, compounded by the threat of renewed military offensives, have deepened the humanitarian crisis across the territory.

In overcrowded and unhygienic displacement zones, particularly al-Mawasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans are concentrated, conditions are deemed uninhabitable by aid workers. Limited food aid, consisting mainly of rice and lentils, lacks nutritional diversity. Many families survive on a single bowl of food daily, with parents sacrificing their meals so children can eat.

UN efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance are being hampered by logistical and bureaucratic obstacles, alongside persistent restrictions. As displaced families face an impossible choice between staying in besieged urban areas or fleeing into crowded coastal zones with minimal infrastructure, experts warn that the crisis is deepening by the day and that only sustained, unimpeded aid can avert widespread famine and child fatalities.

Sources: The Guardian