GAZA CITY, Palestine / ISTANBUL

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians eat only one meal every two or three days amid a crippling Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.

“More than 66,000 children in Gaza are suffering from severe malnutrition,” UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna told Al-Ghad TV in an interview.

Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza’s crossings closed to food, medical, and humanitarian aid, deepening an already humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to government, human rights, and international reports.

Figures released by Gaza’s government media office showed that at least 57 Palestinians have died of starvation since October 2023.

Nearly 2.4 million people in Gaza live completely dependent on humanitarian aid, according to World Bank data.

“UNRWA will not be part of the new Israeli plan” for aid distribution in Gaza, as the plan “doesn’t adhere to UN standards at all,” Abu Hasna said.

On Sunday night, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved a plan to distribute aid in the blockaded enclave through private security contractors.

The plan, however, was rejected by the UN and dozens of international aid groups, saying it runs against humanitarian principles, is logistically unworkable, and could put Palestinian civilians and staffers in harm’s way.

The UN Humanitarian Country Team in Gaza said on Sunday night that it "can only support plans that respect the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, independence, and impartiality.”

More than 52,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.