Gaza’s Children on the Brink: UNICEF Warns of Starvation, Disease Amid Ongoing Aid Blockade.
New York:
UNICEF has issued a dire warning about the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where children have endured two months of relentless bombardment, deprivation, and displacement. As essential goods and services dwindle, the agency says the situation is rapidly deteriorating and could soon become catastrophic.
“For two months, children in the Gaza Strip have faced relentless bombardments while being deprived of essential goods, services and lifesaving care,” the statement reads. “With each passing day of the aid blockade, they face the growing risk of starvation, illness and death – nothing can justify this.”
Families are trapped and unable to flee. Farmland has been destroyed, fishing restricted, and food production severely disrupted. Bakeries are closing, clean water is scarce, and market shelves lie empty. Humanitarian aid remains the only lifeline for many—but that too is running out.
More than 75% of households now report inadequate access to water, with many forced to ration between drinking, cooking, and hygiene. Vaccines are nearly depleted, and disease is spreading rapidly—particularly acute watery diarrhoea, which now accounts for one in four recorded illnesses, mainly affecting children under five.
Malnutrition is also rising sharply. Since the start of the year, over 9,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition, with hundreds more unable to access care due to ongoing violence and displacement.
UNICEF emphasized that international humanitarian law obliges all parties to ensure humane conditions, including access to food, water, and medical care. The agency called for the immediate lifting of the aid blockade, unrestricted entry of commercial goods, protection of all children, and the safe release of hostages.
“UNICEF remains in Gaza, doing what we can to support and protect children,” the statement concludes. “But the aid blockade and more than 18 months of war are pushing Gaza’s children to the brink.”
The agency urged the global community to act now, warning that continued inaction could result in irreversible harm to an entire generation.
