UN says malnutrition rate among Gaza children triples

The rate of children suffering from acute malnutrition in Gaza has nearly tripled since a ceasefire earlier this year when aid flowed more freely, according to data collected by humanitarian groups and released by the UN on Thursday.

The report was issued at a time when aid distribution in the Palestinian enclave is under intense scrutiny because of deadly shootings close to the operations of a new US-backed system. After the two-month ceasefire broke down in March, Israel blockaded aid supplies into Gaza for 11 weeks.

Israel, which has only partially lifted the blockade since, vets all aid into Gaza and accuses Hamas of stealing some of it – something the group denies. Around 5.8% out of nearly 50,000 children under five who were screened in the second half of May were diagnosed with acute malnutrition.

This was up from 4.7% in early May and nearly three times the rate in February during a pause in fighting in the 20-month war between Israel and Hamas, an analysis by a group of UN and other aid agencies known as the nutrition cluster showed.

The analysis also reported an increase in severe acute malnutrition cases among children—a life-threatening condition that compromises the immune system. A Palestinian minister reported 29 starvation-related deaths among the children and elderly in just a few days last month.

The report stated that the centres to support medical complications from severe cases in north Gaza and Rafah in the south of the enclave have been forced to close, leaving children without access to lifesaving treatment