The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Friday that one in three children in the Gaza Strip had no food at all in the last 24 hours due to shortages caused by the Israeli blockade. Israel has been starving Palestinians as part of the attacks it has been carrying out against them for more than two years.
Since October 2023, more than 65.500 Palestinians have been killed and 167.376 wounded, mostly women and children.
“According to a rapid needs assessment in Gaza by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), one in three small children spent the whole day without food in the last 24 hours,” UNRWA reported.
It was emphasized that “the cost to children and their childhood is unbearable.”
Given these harsh conditions, many children are forced into work, “begging, theft, or child labor,” the statement added.
The UN agency reiterated its urgent call for an immediate ceasefire, saying: “The children of Gaza need a ceasefire now.”
On Wednesday, the International Rescue Committee stated: “One in three small children spent the whole day without food in the last 24 hours, 70 percent of children have trouble sleeping, and nearly one in five is withdrawn or quiet.”
It was also noted that “only one percent of households in Gaza are considered food secure,” while most families with children under five report clear signs of malnutrition.
Since March 2nd, Israel has closed all crossings into Gaza, preventing the entry of food, medicine, and humanitarian aid, driving the enclave into famine despite the accumulation of aid trucks at its borders.
Israel occasionally allows very limited amounts of aid, but they do not meet even the minimal needs of the starving population. Moreover, most of the trucks are looted by gangs, which Gaza authorities claim are protected by Israel.
On August 22nd, the Global Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative declared famine in Gaza City and warned that it would spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September.
In the Israeli bombing of Gaza, 16 more Palestinians killed
Israeli forces killed 16 Palestinians on Friday in new attacks on houses and civilians waiting for aid across the Gaza Strip, medics said, while the army continued demolishing residential buildings in the besieged enclave.
Ten people were killed and others wounded near a food distribution point close to the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza while waiting for humanitarian aid, according to health workers.
In Gaza City, one person was killed and several were wounded in an Israeli attack on the Al-Zarka area in the northeast. Two people were killed in separate bombing attacks in the eastern neighborhoods of the city. Three more Palestinians were killed when an airstrike hit a civilian gathering on Al-Nafak Street.
Witnesses said that Israeli planes carried out heavy airstrikes overnight on Tel al-Hawa and around the university district in the western part of Gaza City.
Troops also destroyed residential blocks in the northwest of the city. In southern Gaza, Israeli helicopters fired on civilian houses in the center of Khan Younis, they added.
Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed more than 65.500 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children. Months of air and ground attacks have left Gaza largely uninhabitable, pushing its population into hunger and disease.
More than 140 airstrikes were carried out on Gaza in the last 24 hours
The Israeli army carried out more than 140 airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours. They are intensifying airstrikes as Palestinians refuse to leave the area despite hunger and massacres.
The army is forcing Palestinians to flee to the south. Despite the attacks, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain in Gaza.
At least 65.502 Palestinians have been killed and 167.376 wounded in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7th, 2023, AA writes
