News Center – Children in Gaza are enduring one of the harshest humanitarian crises, facing severe malnutrition due to the ongoing blockade, food and medicine shortages, and deprivation of basic meals necessary for their growth, threatening the future of an entire generation.

On Sunday, December 7, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported that 508 children in Gaza were diagnosed with severe malnutrition, more than two years after the outbreak of the mass killing war.

UNRWA conducted screenings of approximately 7,000 children during the first round of a catch-up vaccination campaign in Gaza, held from November 9–20, in collaboration with UNICEF, WHO, and other partners.

Tamara Al-Rifai, UNRWA Director of External Relations, warned that ongoing funding shortages endanger the lives of children and refugees, urging the international community to intervene to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.

She added that humanitarian aid flows are insufficient to meet needs, noting that the agency has had to cut essential services due to a funding gap.

Al-Rifai also stated that camps in northern West Bank have been emptied due to forced displacement, further complicating the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have committed acts of mass killing in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, displacement, and detention, in blatant disregard of international calls and International Court of Justice orders to halt violations.

The war has left over 239,000 casualties, mostly children and women, more than 11,000 missing, and hundreds of thousands of displaced people facing famine that has claimed many lives, mostly children. It has also caused widespread destruction across Gaza, while thousands of victims remain trapped under rubble or on streets inaccessible to rescue teams.