Dr Ahmed Al Farra, director of the al-Tahrir Hospital in the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza, has said medical treatment of children in Gaza “experiencing the most severe stages of malnutrition” is hampered by a shortage of medicine and infant formula, Al Jazeera reports.

A Gaza health ministry statement on the hospital director’s warning also featured photographs of an emaciated Palestinian child, Osama Al Raqab, who the ministry said “epitomises the suffering of children in Gaza due to the lack of proper nutrition and drinking water”.

“The Gaza Strip is experiencing stage five of malnutrition, the most severe stage according to the World Health Organisation,” the ministry said.