Despite a ceasefire declared two months ago, malnutrition is still wreaking havoc among Gaza’s youth. The latest UN figures indicate that over 9,000 children were treated for acute malnutrition in October by itself.
While the immediate threat of famine has receded for the bulk of the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza after the truce declaration on 10 October, the UN and other aid agencies report ongoing restrictions on their humanitarian aid shipments. They say these shipments fall well below the needs of a population enfeebled and distressed by a prolonged two-year war, homelessness, and living in flimsy shelters.
“In Gaza’s hospitals I have met a number of infants who weighed less than one kilogramme, their little bodies laboring with the fight for life,” remarked Tess Ingram, a representative of the UN child protection agency Unicef.
Shockingly High Numbers Continue
According to Unicef figures, 9,300 children were hospitalised with severe acute malnutrition in October. This is considerably lower than the peak of 14,000 children recorded in August, but much more than the child malnutrition rate observed during the earlier truce in February and March of this year.
“This remains an alarmingly large figure,” Ingram commented, addressing the media by video from Gaza.
In October, about 8,300 pregnant and breastfeeding women were also admitted for acute malnutrition.
“This trend serves as a serious alarm and it is expected to lead to infants with low birth weights arriving in the Gaza Strip for many months ahead,” Ingram continued. “The situation persists. Entire lineages, among them infants arriving today into this ceasefire, have been forever altered by the trauma they experienced.”
Relief Convoys Continue to Be Insufficient
Aid groups within the UN state that relief convoys reaching Gaza have increased from wartime levels, but are still completely inadequate compared to the requirements of the population.
Typically 140 aid trucks a day have entered during December to date, in shipments coordinated by the UN and the International Organisation for Migration. That is well below the aim of 600 trucks a day established under the ceasefire.
This data leave out bilateral aid donations and commercial shipments, which have risen more dramatically than shipments organized by the UN since the truce began. These have reduced the cost of many goods in markets, but they are still unattainable for the vast majority of people in Gaza who have had no income for over 24 months and who have exhausted their financial reserves.
Logistical Hurdles
Following the truce, aid has been organized by a multinational hub known as the Civil-Military Coordination Centre run by the US and Israel and including representatives of other countries in favor of the cessation of hostilities. Nonetheless, foreign officials and humanitarian workers report that the Israeli army still has the final say in authorizing shipments into Gaza.
The UN reported that among eight humanitarian convoys planned with Israeli authorities on a recent Sunday, just four were allowed through.
