UN officials told the Security Council on Wednesday, as an 11-week blockade and restricted aid flows push young Palestinians to the brink of survival, Arab News reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In June alone, more than 5,800 girls and boys were diagnosed as acutely malnourished\u2014nearly triple the figure recorded in February, just before Israel\u2019s full blockade on humanitarian aid. According to UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, Gaza\u2019s children are \u201cenduring catastrophic living conditions, including severe food insecurity and malnutrition\u201d after only a trickle of relief entered the territory since late May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new aid-distribution system run by Israel and the US, under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has sidelined UN channels and sharply reduced the volume of food, medicine and water reaching civilians. At distribution points, people\u2014especially children\u2014have been shot while queuing for lifesaving supplies. In Deir Al-Balah last week, an Israeli strike on a UNICEF line killed nine children among 15 Palestinians waiting for nutritional aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond starvation, contaminated water supplies now account for 44 percent of all health consultations, and Gaza\u2019s collapsed medical system forces five babies to share a single incubator while pregnant women deliver without care. Fletcher warned that intentionally using starvation as a method of warfare would constitute a war crime, echoing the International Court of Justice\u2019s demand for Israel to allow \u201curgent basic services and humanitarian assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the Security Council session, France and the UK sharply condemned Israel\u2019s blockade and the deadly restrictions at aid sites, calling for an immediate ceasefire, restoration of UN delivery systems and an end to the humanitarian crisis. Israel\u2019s ambassador, supported by the US, countered that Hamas\u2019s continued detention of hostages seized on October 7 remains the root cause of Gaza\u2019s plight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As world leaders prepare for an international conference at UN headquarters in late July\u2014co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia\u2014diplomats hope to map a pathway to a two-state solution that can reverse Gaza\u2019s spiral toward famine and restore hope to its youngest victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This comes amid continued Israeli strikes. At least 10 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured early Friday in a series of Israeli airstrikes targeting residential areas and displacement shelters in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 59,000 Palestinians so far, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and a spread of disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UN officials told the Security Council on Wednesday, as an 11-week blockade and restricted aid flows push young Palestinians to the brink of survival, Arab News reported. In June alone, more than 5,800 girls and boys were diagnosed as acutely malnourished\u2014nearly triple the figure recorded in February, just before Israel\u2019s full blockade on humanitarian aid. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":129182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"no","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[{"account":"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329","service":"facebook","timestamp":1752824603,"status":"error"}],"rop_publish_now_status":"done","footnotes":""},"categories":[2927,1],"tags":[13917,5726,13994],"class_list":["post-129128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-palestine","category-uncategorized","tag-aid-blockade","tag-gaza-war","tag-severe-starvation-and-famine-conditions"],"yoast_head":"\n