UN says number of malnourished children in Gaza still high, despite truce

Thousands of children have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in Gaza since an October ceasefire that was supposed to enable a major increase in humanitarian aid, the UN children’s agency says.

UNICEF, the biggest provider of malnutrition treatment in Gaza, says that 9,300 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition in October, when the first phase of an agreement to end the two-year Israel-Hamas war came into effect.

While this is down from a peak of over 14,000 in August, the number is still significantly higher than during a brief February-March ceasefire and indicates that aid flows remain insufficient, UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram tells a Geneva press briefing by video link from Gaza.

UNICEF is able to import considerably more aid into the enclave than it was before the October 10 agreement but obstacles remain, she says, citing delays and denials of cargoes at crossings, route closures and ongoing security challenges.

The report comes after a US-based Gaza peace activist posted a video from Gaza purporting to show that Hamas hid tons of baby formula and nutrition shakes in warehouses in a bid to heighten the famine narrative.