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Child malnutrition rates in Gaza have nearly doubled since March, according to United Nations data released Tuesday, as 21 Palestinians died in a crush at an aid distribution center and Israeli strikes killed more than 90 people across the territory.
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reported that 10.2% of nearly 16,000 children under the age of 5 screened in June were acutely malnourished, a sharp rise from 5.5% in March. UNICEF, which monitors nutrition separately, documented 5,870 malnourished children in June—more than double the 2,000 cases reported in February.
"This is the fourth consecutive month of increasing malnutrition in Gaza," UNICEF said in a statement.
Humanitarian agencies say the surge stems from Israel’s near-total blockade on aid since March, after the collapse of a temporary cease-fire. Israel has since allowed an average of 69 aid trucks per day—far below the several hundred the U.N. says are required to meet basic needs.
The malnutrition surge follows Israel's March decision to ban all food and other supplies from entering Gaza, which officials said aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. The blockade was slightly eased in late May.
UNICEF separately documented 5,870 malnutrition cases among children in June—the fourth consecutive monthly increase and more than double the approximately 2,000 cases recorded in February.
Israel has allowed an average of 69 trucks daily carrying supplies since easing the blockade in May, according to COGAT, the Israeli military coordination agency.
The U.N. says hundreds of trucks daily are needed to sustain Gaza's population of more than 2 million.
Twenty-one Palestinians died Wednesday at a U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution site in Khan Yunis, with conflicting accounts of the cause emerging from different sources.
The GHF blamed armed "agitators" for instigating a crowd surge, stating: "We have credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd—armed and affiliated with Hamas—deliberately fomented the unrest."
According to the organization, 19 people were trampled and one was stabbed during the incident. The GHF reported identifying "multiple firearms in the crowd" and said "an American worker was also threatened with a firearm by a member of the crowd."
However, Gaza's Health Ministry described the event as a "new massacre," stating that 15 people died from suffocation after Israeli forces used gas against Palestinians gathering near the aid center "in hope of finding food."
More than 840 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,600 wounded while attempting to reach GHF centers since late May, according to Gaza health officials. Witnesses report Israeli forces firing barrages of live ammunition to control crowds on roads to the distribution sites, located in military-controlled zones.
The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said Tuesday it recorded at least 875 killings near aid points in the past six weeks, with 674 occurring "in the vicinity of GHF sites."
"Most of the injuries are gunshot injuries," U.N. rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters last week.
The GHF, which began operations May 26 after a two-month Israeli supply halt, claims to have distributed food boxes equivalent to more than 70 million meals. The organization uses private U.S. security and logistics companies, bypassing the U.N.-led system Israel accuses of allowing Hamas to loot aid.
The U.N. has called the GHF model "inherently unsafe" and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
"People who flock in their thousands (to GHF sites) are hungry and exhausted, and they get squeezed into narrow places, amid shortages of aid and the absence of organization and discipline by the GHF," Palestinian NGOs Network director Amjad al-Shawa told Reuters.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli attacks have killed at least 58,479 Palestinians and wounded 139,355, according to Gaza health authorities.
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