UNICEF announced that children receiving malnutrition treatment are at grave risk after 21 treatment centers in the Gaza Strip were closed since March 18 due to displacement orders or shelling. UNICEF noted that 350 children who rely on these centers now face worsening malnutrition, potentially threatening their lives.
The organization said that complementary foods for infants, essential for growth when food stocks are low, have run out in central and southern Gaza, leaving only enough ready-to-use infant formula for 400 children for a month.
UNICEF estimates that nearly 10,000 infants under six months of age require complementary feeding. “Without ready-to-use infant formula, families may be forced to use alternatives mixed with unsafe water,” it said.
The UN agency warned that without these essentials, rates of malnutrition, disease, and other preventable conditions are likely to rise, leading to an increase in preventable child deaths.
