A top United Nations relief official warned the Security Council on Tuesday that at least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip, or one-quarter of the population, are one step away from starvation.

"Very little will be possible while hostilities continue and while there is a risk that they will spread into the overcrowded areas in the south of Gaza. We therefore reiterate our call for a ceasefire," said Ramesh Rajasingham, coordination director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

“If nothing is done, we fear widespread famine in Gaza is almost inevitable, and the conflict, which since October has claimed the lives of almost 30,000 people, and injured more than 70,000, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, will have many more victims,” Ramesh Rajasingham read on behalf of OCHA and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, also mentioned in the same meeting.

Rajasingham said the U.N. and aid groups face "overwhelming obstacles just to get a bare minimum of supplies into Gaza."

“If nothing is done, we fear widespread famine in Gaza is almost inevitable, and the conflict, which since October has claimed the lives of almost 30,000 people, and injured more than 70,000, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, will have many more victims,” Ramesh Rajasingham read on behalf of OCHA and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, also mentioned in the same meeting.

WFP: 1 in 6 children under the age of 2 in Gaza suffers from malnutrition

According to UN World Food Programme Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau, one in six children under the age of two in Gaza suffers from malnutrition, making it the region with the highest rate of malnutrition in the world.

“Gaza is seeing the worst level of child malnutrition anywhere in the world. One child in every six under the age of two is acutely malnourished,” Skau said in a meeting of the UN Security Council on Food Security.

WFP is ready to scale up its operations if a ceasefire is reached, he added.

Out of 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza, every single one of them is grappling with hunger and food insecurity, UN human rights experts warned last month.

Israeli campaign in Gaza "is a collective punishment for the Palestinian civilian people," Algeria's U.N. Ambassador Amar Bendjama told the Security Council.

"Our silence grants a license to kill and to starve the Palestinian population," he said.

Related News

Hamas condemns deadly Israeli attacks in Gaza, Khan Younis

Israeli forces face deepening manpower crisis amid war on Gaza

Lazzarini says famine 'man-made' in Gaza

The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees' Chief, Philippe Lazzarini, stated this week that famine in the Gaza Strip can be prevented if vital aid is allowed into the besieged territory.
 
In a statement on X, he stated "This is a man-made disaster," referring to the horrible dangerous conditions Gaza is living through due to the Israeli genocide against it. 
 
"The world committed to never let famine happen again," he added, then urged "Famine can still be avoided through genuine political will to grant access and protection to meaningful assistance." 

Aid agencies have continuously expressed concern over the fate of Palestinians in Gaza being deprived of their basic needs, as the Israeli occupation forces continue to blockade Gaza, as well as attack anyone attempting to get aid or distribute it.

The UN has warned of an upcoming famine endangering everyone in Gaza, while the World Food Program this week described "unprecedented levels of desperation". 
 
Lazzarini revealed that the last time the agency was able to deliver food aid to northern Gaza was on January 23, more than one month ago.

The last time @UNRWA was able to deliver food aid to northern #Gaza was on 23 January.

Since then, together with other @UN agencies, we have:
🛑 Warned against looming famine.
🛑 Appealed for regular humanitarian access.
🛑 Stated that famine can be averted if more food…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) February 25, 2024

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA stressed that the situation in the north of Gaza was "extremely critical" also expressing alarm over the terrible conditions in the south. 

Palestinians in Gaza also informed AFP they are having to eat rotten corn and animal feed unfit for humans, but even that is now running out. 

Malnutrition, hunger kills 7 infants in Gaza due to Israeli war, siege

The spokesperson for Gaza's Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qudra, indicated, on Saturday, that the critical conditions in the region, affecting over a million individuals with malnutrition, have intensified due to the Israeli occupation's refusal to provide necessary medical supplies and fuel to the northern part of the Strip.

UN agencies warn of 'explosion' in Gaza child deaths

The United Nations warned, last Monday, that an alarming lack of food, surging malnutrition, and the rampant spread of disease could spark an explosion in child deaths in Gaza.

Twenty weeks into the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, UN agencies warned that food and safe water had become "incredibly scarce" in the Palestinian territory, adding that virtually all young children had infectious illnesses.

"The Gaza Strip is poised to witness an explosion in preventable child deaths which would compound the already unbearable level of child deaths in Gaza," expressed Ted Chaiban, deputy head of humanitarian action at the UN children's agency UNICEF.

At least 90% of children under five in Gaza are affected by one or more infectious diseases, according to a joint assessment by the UN agencies for children, food, and health.

Seventy percent had had diarrhea in the two weeks prior to the assessment, marking a 23-fold increase compared to the 2022 baseline.

"Hunger and disease are a deadly combination," World Health Organization emergencies director Mike Ryan said in a statement.

The UN assessment indicated that more than 15% of children under the age of two in northern Gaza -- one in six -- were acutely malnourished, while three percent were suffering from life-threatening severe wasting. 

In short, "Israel's" siege on Gaza is preventing the entry of food and water, putting a population of two million people at risk of dehydration, famine, and diseases. This situation has resulted in the malnutrition of lactating mothers, rendering them unable to breastfeed, and exacerbating dehydration concerns. Tragically, the inhumane siege imposed by "Israel" on Gaza has led to tragic fatalities among infants that could have otherwise been prevented.