This footage was filmed and produced 18 February 2024.

UN health and children's agencies warned of the risk of an "explosion" of child deaths in the Gaza Strip due to lack of food, increasing malnutrition and a rapid spread of disease.

Twenty weeks after the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, the agencies warned that food and clean water are "extremely scarce" in the Palestinian territory and that almost all children are suffering from infectious diseases.

"The Gaza Strip is about to witness an explosion in the number of preventable child deaths, which could exacerbate the already unsustainable level of child deaths in Gaza," said Ted Chaiban, deputy head of humanitarian action at Unicef.

At least 90% of children under the age of five in Gaza suffer from one or more infectious diseases, according to this report by Unicef, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Food Program (WFP).
"Hunger and disease are a deadly combination," Mike Ryan, in charge of emergencies at WHO, said in a statement.

"Hungry, weakened and deeply traumatized children are the most susceptible to falling ill, and sick children, particularly those suffering from diarrhea, cannot absorb nutrients well," he added.
According to the UN assessment, more than 15% of children under the age of two are "acutely malnourished" in northern Gaza, where they have little access to humanitarian aid.

In the south of the territory, the percentage is 5%, according to these data collected in January.

"This decline in the food situation of the population in three months is unprecedented in the world," these UN agencies said.

SHOTLIST:
1. Various children in the rubble in Gaza;
2. Various children in Gaza refugee camp;
3. Various refugee children in Gaza.