UNITED NATIONS, Mac 7 (NNN-XINHUA) – A severe hunger crisis in Gaza is putting children’s lives in danger, a UN official said, yesterday.
Jamie McGoldrick, the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, addressed the media via video link, at UN headquarters in New York, revealing the dire situation in Gaza, following his recent visit.
“Hunger has reached catastrophic levels,” McGoldrick said, emphasising the grim reality that “children are dying from hunger,” as media reports indicate that at least 20 children have succumbed to starvation, in the besieged and bombarded enclave, including most recently a 14-day-old baby.
Calling for a plan to address this crisis, the coordinator said, immediate needs would include using a military access road to northern Gaza for at least 300 aid trucks every day.
During his visit to the Misq and Layan camps in Al Mawasi, southern Gaza, McGoldrick relayed the hardships faced by displaced women. At night, walking through the camps, “you can hear the women crying,” he shared, underscoring the dire need for privacy, security, and hygiene in these camps.
McGoldrick also highlighted the critical state of malnutrition among children, with one in six under the age of two in northern Gaza being acutely malnourished.
The coordinator stressed the efficiency of land deliveries over airdrops, for getting urgent aid to those in need.– NNN-XINHUA
