UNICEF has issued a stark warning that while global attention is focused elsewhere, conditions in Gaza have reached an unprecedented low, describing the situation as having hit “rock bottom”, reports RTE.
According to the UN agency, the number of aid distribution centres in Gaza has plummeted from 400 to just four.
The densely populated territory of over two million people is now facing famine-like conditions, following a total halt in supplies by Israel from early March to the end of May. Rights organisations say restrictions are still in place.
Rosalia Bollen, UNICEF Communications Specialist for Children in Gaza, said that hospitals are barely functioning, overwhelmed with injured patients, and lacking essential medicines and equipment, reports RTE.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, she stated: “We are seeing a very chilling pattern day in, day out. No one should have to choose between dying of hunger or risking their life to get food.”
She noted that near the few remaining aid points, gunfire and screaming can frequently be heard.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, since the start of last month, over 500 people have been killed and almost 3,800 injured by Israeli fire while trying to access aid being distributed by the US- and Israeli-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, reports RTE.
The independent aid initiative, which replaced United Nations agencies in Gaza at the end of May, is under growing criticism due to chaotic distributions and concerns about impartiality.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, condemned the US- and Israeli-backed aid system as an “abomination” that endangers Palestinians, while UN human rights office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan decried the “weaponisation of food” in the region, reports RTE.
Gaza’s civil defence authorities said that Israeli fire killed at least 20 more people this morning, including six who were queuing for food assistance.
“Every child is hungry, thirsty and exhausted,” said Ms Bollen. She added that as heat levels rise, access to clean water remains severely limited, fueling the spread of disease throughout Gaza, reports RTE.
She described overflowing sewage in the streets, as pumping stations lack the fuel needed to function.
“It’s really a man-made catastrophe we are seeing unfolding in front of our eyes,” she added, reports RTE.
UNICEF reports that children in Gaza are now dying from thirst, as fuel needed for water distribution trucks has been blocked from entry.
The agency said the number of undernourished children is climbing rapidly, with 5,119 children aged between six months and five years treated for acute malnutrition in May alone, reports RTE.
Widespread damage to critical water, sanitation, and healthcare infrastructure has hampered efforts to treat malnutrition. Only 127 out of 236 treatment centres remain operational due to forced evacuations and ongoing bombings.
In a weekend report, UNICEF stated that among the 5,119 malnourished children admitted for treatment last year, 636 were suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), reports RTE.
This is the most dangerous and deadly form of malnutrition.
“These children need consistent, supervised treatment, safe water, and medical care to survive – all of which are increasingly scarce in Gaza today,” UNICEF said.
UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, stressed: “Every one of these cases is preventable. The food, water, and nutrition treatments they desperately need are being blocked from reaching them, reports RTE.
“Man-made decisions that are costing lives. Israel must urgently allow the large-scale delivery of life-saving aid through all border crossings,” he added.
The supply of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a vital resource for children suffering from extreme malnutrition, is nearing depletion, UNICEF warned.
Following the announcement of a ceasefire in the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel, Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir said their attention would “now shift back to Gaza”, reports RTE.
Calls for a Gaza ceasefire echoed across political lines, with Israel’s opposition, the Palestinian Authority, and a key group representing the families of Israeli hostages all urging a truce in Gaza to accompany the Iran ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who met with Donald Trump in The Hague yesterday, welcomed the Iran-Israel truce and called on Ankara and Washington to collaborate more closely to “end the war in Gaza”, reports RTE.
This came as the Israeli military reported that seven of its soldiers had been killed during operations in Gaza amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas.
According to the army’s website, five of the fallen soldiers and a platoon commander were from the same battalion operating in southern Gaza.
They added that another soldier had died, but his name was not disclosed at the request of his family, reports RTE.
To date, over 430 Israeli soldiers have died in the conflict, which began after Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
That assault led to the deaths of 1,219 individuals, most of whom were civilians, reports RTE.
Hamas also captured 251 hostages during the attack — 49 of whom are still being held in Gaza, with the Israeli military stating that 27 of them have died.
Israel’s military response has resulted in at least 56,077 deaths, also largely civilian, according to the Gaza health ministry — figures which the United Nations deems credible, reports RTE.
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