More than 10,000 children in Gaza City require treatment for acute malnutrition amid Israel’s major ground offensive, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported.
“The forced and massive displacement of families from Gaza City is a deadly threat to the most vulnerable,” said Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokeswoman in southern Gaza’s Al-Mawasi zone. Speaking at a UN press briefing in Geneva, she warned that child malnutrition rates are worsening across the territory.
“We estimate that 26,000 children in the Gaza Strip currently require treatment for acute malnutrition, including more than 10,000 in Gaza City alone,” Ingram said. In August, UNICEF data indicated that more than one in eight children examined suffered from acute malnutrition, with Gaza City recording one in five—its highest level ever.
Nutrition centres in Gaza City have been forced to close this week due to evacuation orders and the military escalation. The Israeli army stated that those relocating south to the Al-Masawi area would find food, tents, and medical supplies. However, in nearly two years of conflict, humanitarian zones in Gaza have frequently been bombed by Israel, which says its targets are Hamas fighters.
“It is inhumane to expect nearly half a million children, battered and traumatised by over 700 days of unrelenting conflict, to flee one hellscape to end up in another,” Ingram said.
About 40 per cent of the population in Gaza City and surrounding areas, estimated at one million, has been displaced, according to Israeli military sources. UNICEF reports that around 150,000 people have fled south since August 14, with many still moving within and around Gaza City unable to find safe refuge.
The ongoing crisis follows the October 2023 attack by Hamas militants, which killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians. Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has claimed at least 64,964 lives, also predominantly civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry, figures the UN considers reliable.
