Even with a truce that was announced two months prior, malnutrition persists in causing damage among Gaza’s youth. Updated data from the UN shows that over 9,000 children were hospitalised for acute malnutrition in just the month of October.
While the immediate threat of famine has receded for most of the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza following the truce declaration on 10 October, United Nations and relief organizations state continuing constraints around their relief deliveries. They say these shipments fall well below the needs of a population weakened and traumatised by 24 months of conflict, homelessness, and residing in flimsy shelters.
“While visiting Gaza's medical facilities, I encountered several newborns who weighed less than one kilogramme, their little bodies laboring with the struggle to survive,” said Tess Ingram, a official with the UN child protection agency Unicef.
Alarmingly Elevated Numbers Persist
According to Unicef figures, 9,300 children were received care for severe acute malnutrition in October. This is markedly fewer than the high of 14,000 children recorded in August, but substantially higher than the child malnutrition rate observed during the prior halt in fighting in February and March of this year.
“The total is still disturbingly elevated,” Ingram said, speaking to reporters by video from Gaza.
During that same month, about 8,300 pregnant and breastfeeding women were also treated for acute malnutrition.
“This trend serves as a serious alarm and it will likely result in infants with low birth weights coming into the world in the Gaza Strip for months to come,” Ingram stated further. “The crisis is not finished. Entire lineages, among them infants arriving today into this ceasefire, have been forever altered by what was inflicted upon them.”
Aid Deliveries Are Still Inadequate
UN organizations report that aid deliveries crossing into Gaza have risen from wartime levels, but are yet entirely insufficient in relation to the humanitarian needs.
On average 140 aid trucks a day have been allowed in during the current month of December, in convoys organised by the UN and the International Organisation for Migration. This number is far short of the aim of 600 trucks a day established under the ceasefire.
This data exclude bilateral aid donations and commercial shipments, which have increased more sharply than UN-coordinated deliveries under the ceasefire. These have reduced the cost of many goods in markets, but they remain beyond the reach for the vast majority of people in Gaza who have had no income for over 24 months and who have depleted their savings.
Logistical Hurdles
After the halt in fighting, aid has been facilitated via a international coordination center called the Civil-Military Coordination Centre run by the US and Israel and with 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 determining what enters Gaza.
A UN situation report indicated that out of eight humanitarian convoys coordinated with Israeli authorities on a recent Sunday, only four had been facilitated.
