Gaza Children Face Growing Risk of Illness, Starvation Amid Israeli Blockade: UNICEF
Gaza (Quds News Network)- Israel’s aid blockade and more than 18 months of assault are pushing Gaza’s children to the brink, the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, said on Friday, as they face the “growing risk of starvation, illness and death.”
Children in the enclave have not only faced relentless bombardment, but are also being deprived of essential goods, services and lifesaving care, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.
“With each passing day of the aid blockade, they face the growing risk of starvation, illness and death – nothing can justify this,” Russell said. “The sea they used for fishing has been restricted. Bakeries are closing, water production is declining, and market shelves are almost bare.”
In the past month, she said, families have been forced to choose between showering, cleaning, and cooking as access to water is quickly deteriorating.
Vaccines are also running out, Russell warned, and diseases are spreading rapidly.
“Malnutrition is also on the rise,” she said, adding that more than 9,000 children have been admitted for treatment of acute malnutrition since the beginning of the year.
With two months of aid blockade on Gaza, children face a growing risk of starvation, illness & death-nothing can justify this.
We again call for the aid blockade to be lifted, the entry of commercial goods, release of hostages & protection of children.👇 https://t.co/3DkBzbkeRr
— Catherine Russell (@unicefchief) May 2, 2025
Since March 2, Israel has closed Gaza’s main crossings, halting the flow of food, medical aid, and other humanitarian supplies. This blockade has caused a severe and unprecedented decline in living conditions, with human rights organizations accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians.
Israel also resumed its genocide in Gaza on March 18 after violating the ceasefire agreement signed in January, killing over 2,200 Palestinians and wounding more than 5,700—mostly children and women, according the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The UN’s World Food Programme said last week that its food supplies had been “depleted” amid the siege, warning that community kitchens upon which thousands of Palestinians rely would be forced to close.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians of all ages are experiencing high levels of food insecurity in Gaza, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, a global hunger watchdog.
