Hunger has been rising among Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians since Israel broke a ceasefire in March to resume the war and banned all food and other supplies from entering Gaza.
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The UN reported Tuesday that the rate of malnutrition among children in the Gaza Strip has doubled since Israel severely restricted food entry in March.
According to the UNRWA, the main UN agency caring for Palestinians in Gaza, some 10.2% of nearly 16,000 children under age 5 who were screened at UN clinics in June were found to be acutely malnourished.
By comparison, in March, 5.5% of the nearly 15,000 children it screened were malnourished.
The UN statement came as health officials in the enclave claimed new Israeli strikes killed around 90 Palestinians, including scores of women and children.
Hunger has been rising among Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians since Israel broke a ceasefire in March to resume the war and banned all food and other supplies from entering Gaza, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. It slightly eased the blockade in late May, allowing a trickle of aid.
5,870 malnutrition cases among children in June - UNICEF
According to UNICEF, which screens children separately from UNRWA, its clinics documented around 5,870 cases of malnutrition among children in June, the fourth straight month of increases and more than double the around 2,000 cases it documented in February.
Experts have warned of famine since Israel tightened its lengthy blockade in March.
Israel has allowed an average of 69 trucks a day carrying supplies, including food, since it eased the blockade in May, according to the latest figures from COGAT, the Israeli military agency in charge of coordinating aid.
That is far below the hundreds of trucks a day the UN says are needed to sustain Gaza’s population.
New Israeli airstrikes kill several families
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Health Ministry said in a daily report on Tuesday that the bodies of 93 people killed by Israeli strikes had been brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours, along with 278 wounded.
Local officials at the Shifa Hospital said one of the strikes in the northern Shati refugee camp killed a 68-year-old Hamas member of the Palestinian legislature, as well as a man and a woman and their six children who were sheltering in the same building.
The Hamas politician killed in a strike early Tuesday, Mohammed Faraj al-Ghoul, was a member of the bloc of representatives from the group that won seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council in the last national elections, held in 2006.
Earlier this week, one of the deadliest strikes hit a house in Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa district on Monday evening and killed 19 members of the family living inside, according to Shifa Hospital. The dead included eight women and six children. A strike on a tent housing displaced people in the same district killed a man and a woman, and their two children.
The Israeli military did not comment on the strikes. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) claims to exclusively target militants and says it strives to protect civilians.
The IDF blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of operating in densely populated areas.