HAMILTON, Canada

The UN on Thursday reported worsening starvation and malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, highlighting critical humanitarian challenges exacerbated by limited access and supply shortages.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told a news conference that the UN "partners working in nutrition, report that acute malnutrition among children in Gaza has reached the highest levels recorded to date."

He detailed that in July alone, "nearly 12,000 children aged six to 59 months were identified as acutely malnourished."

Of the 136,000 children screened, "over 2,500 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition, the most life-threatening form, 40 children required hospitalization and stabilization centers," Haq said.

Noting the sharp rise in the number of children with severe acute malnutrition, he said: "In June and July, 18% of all acutely malnourished children had severe acute malnutrition, compared with 12% between March and May."

With compounding humanitarian access constraints by Israel, he said that "in July, our partners were only able to reach 3% or 8,700 of the 290,000 children under the age of five who required feeding and micronutrient supplements," citing "a severe shortage of lipid-based nutrient supplements."

Haunted by shortages, "the overall volume of nutrition supplies entering Gaza remains far below what is needed to prevent a further deterioration of the nutrition situation," Haq added.

Due to Israeli restrictions on shelter materials, he said that "more than 1 million shelter items and 2.3 million items such as tents, tarps and sealing off materials … stranded in Jordan and Egypt."

No shelter materials have entered Gaza since March 2, he said.

On worsening living conditions, in which most families face overcrowding and insecurity, Haq reported that "an assessment in July of 44 displacement sites in Gaza City found that 43 sites … had families with no shelter," and "11% of the more than 6,500 surveyed households reported living out in the open."

Regarding access, Haq said that "yesterday, five out of 11 missions requiring coordination with Israeli authorities were facilitated," including food collections. Limited fuel deliveries continue, though supplies remain "critically limited and unpredictable, significantly undermining" humanitarian services.

He also said that a "medical evacuation of 15 children to Jordan, accompanied by 42 people with support from the World Health Organization," was part of ongoing efforts despite obstacles.