UN official says 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in next 48 hours if aid does not reach them

Clarification: The UN claim that 14,000 Gazan babies could die within 48 hours has turned out to be false and based on an incorrect interpretation of a report issued by the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

A top UN official says that some 14,000 babies in Gaza could die in the next 48 hours if aid does not reach them in time.

“There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them,” Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, tells the BBC Radio 4’s “Today” show. “I want to save as many as these 14,000 babies as we can in the next 48 hours.”

He stresses that “we need to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid.”

When the “Today” program’s Anna Foster says that 14,000 figure is “an extraordinary figure,” Fletcher replies that is is an “utterly chilling” figure.

Asked how the UN arrived at these figures Fletcher responds, “We have strong teams on the ground – and of course many of them have been killed.”

However, he says “we still have lots of people on the ground — they’re at the medical centers, they’re at the schools… trying to assess needs.”

“But this is what we do, we keep going. It will be frustrating, we will be impeded and run huge risks. But I don’t see a better idea than getting that baby food in,” he says.

There was no immediate comment on his claims from the Israeli government or military.

Israel yesterday resumed sending aid into Gaza with five trucks of humanitarian aid going in, marking the first such delivery since March 2, when Israel barred goods from entering the territory.

The shipment included flour, baby food, and medical supplies.

Aid has been blocked from Gaza, with Israel arguing that sufficient humanitarian assistance entered the Strip during a six-week ceasefire early this year and that Hamas has been stealing much of that aid, with the blockade necessary to pressure the terror group to release dozens of hostages it is holding. In recent weeks, though, some officials in the IDF have begun warning the political leadership that the enclave was on the brink of starvation.