14,000 Babies Could Die in Next 48 Hours Without Aid, UN Official Warns
Gaza (Quds News Network)- A top United Nations official has issued a stark warning that 14,000 babies are at risk of dying within the next 48 hours if humanitarian aid does not reach them—a figure he described as “utterly chilling” as Israel continues to block aid from entering the enclave.
“We need to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid,” Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said in an interview with the BBC. “I want to save as many of these 14,000 babies as we can in the next 48 hours.”
On March 2, Israel announced the closure of Gaza’s main crossings, cutting off food, medical and humanitarian supplies, leading to an unprecedented deterioration of humanitarian conditions, according to reports by human rights organisations who have accused it of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinains.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, issued last week, warned that almost a quarter of the civilian population would face catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase Five) in the coming months.
However, after about 80 days of total blockade and starvation and widespread international outrage, Israel allowed a very limited passage of aid trucks into the enclave.
On Monday, Israel allowed five lorries across the border, which Fletcher called a “drop in the ocean.”
Fletcher said thousands of trucks of aid were “ready to go”, adding that the lorries contained “baby food and nutrition”.
In #Gaza, "babies have already died because of malnutrition… If they don’t get the nutrition, the impact on their health can be lethal," says @JulietteTouma to @BBCNews.
Rapid, safe, and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance must be allowed into Gaza at full scale.… pic.twitter.com/XLKjVCgs0x
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 20, 2025
