The UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) has said health workers in Gaza have diagnosed more than 3,000 children and 1,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women with acute malnutrition since January 19 — when the Gaza truce took effect —and referred them for treatment, Al Jazeera reports.
The OCHA said there has been a slight improvement in the number of children and pregnant and breastfeeding women consuming the minimum required food groups since the ceasefire, because of the increased availability of goods on the local market.
But it warned that Israel’s renewed blockade was again jeopardising the “progress made in delivering vital, lifesaving assistance” since the ceasefire took effect.
“If the disruption to aid entry continues, at least 80 community kitchens may soon run out of stock. Among the kitchens that remain operational, some will need to start to adjust meal content or reduce the number of meals prepared to cope with anticipated shortages,” it said.
Aid agencies may be forced to reduce food rations, and while the distribution of previously dispatched food parcels is ongoing, these remaining supplies, which will support 500,000 people, will soon run out.
