Children in Gaza dying of thirst after trucks carrying water blocked
UNICEF has warned that while the world's attention is focused elsewhere, the situation in Gaza is "at the worst it has ever been" with the Palestinian territory hitting "rock bottom".
The UN agency has said that 400 aid distribution points in Gaza had dwindled to just four.
The territory of more than two million people is suffering from famine-like conditions after Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, according to rights groups.
UNICEF Communications Specialist for Children in Gaza Rosalia Bollen said hospitals are on their last legs and are overwhelmed with the overflow of injured people, shortages of medicine and medical supplies.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, she said: "We are seeing a very chilling pattern day in, day out. No one should have to choose between dying of hunger or risking their life to get food."
She said gunfire and people screaming can be heard near aid distribution points.
According to figures issued by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, over 500 people have been killed and nearly 3,800 wounded in the territory by Israeli fire while seeking aid since the start of last month, which is being distributed by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Pressure grew yesterday on the privately run, which was brought into the Palestinian territory at the end of May to replace United Nations agencies but whose operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and neutrality concerns.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, called the US- and Israeli-backed system an "abomination" that has put Palestinians' lives at risk, while a spokesman for the UN human rights office, Thameen Al-Kheetan, condemned the "weaponisation of food" in the territory.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire killed at least 20 people this morning, including six who were waiting to collect food aid.
'Hungry, thirsty and exhausted'
"Every child is hungry, thirsty and exhausted," Ms Bollen said, adding that as temperatures soar, there is not enough clean water for sanitation, as disease spreads across Gaza.
She said sewage is overflowing in the streets as pumping stations do not have enough fuel to operate.
"It's really a man-made catastrophe we are seeing unfolding in front of our eyes," she added.
UNICEF said children are beginning to die of thirst in Gaza as fuel for trucks to distribute water across the territory has not been allowed in.
Child malnutrition throughout Gaza
The number of malnourished children in Gaza is rising at an alarming rate, with 5,119 children between six months and five years of age admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in May alone, UNICEF said last week.
The conflict has damaged or destroyed essential water, sanitation, and health systems in Gaza, and has limited the ability to treat severe malnutrition, with just 127 of 236 treatment centres remaining functional, due to displacement orders and incessant bombardments.
In a report over the weekend, UNICEF said of the 5,119 children admitted to treatment for acute malnutrition last year, 636 children have severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
This is the most lethal form of malnutrition.
"These children need consistent, supervised treatment, safe water, and medical care to survive – all of which are increasingly scarce in Gaza today," UNICEF said.
UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder said: "Every one of these cases is preventable. The food, water, and nutrition treatments they desperately need are being blocked from reaching them.
"Man-made decisions that are costing lives. Israel must urgently allow the large-scale delivery of life-saving aid through all border crossings," he added.
UNICEF also warned that the amount of Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Food (RUTF), a lifesaving essential for children suffering from acute levels of malnutrition, is running "critically low".
'Focus to shift to Gaza'
After the truce on the 12-day Iran-Israel conflict was announced, Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir said Israel's focus would "now shift back to Gaza".
The Israeli opposition, the Palestinian Authority and the main group representing the families of Israeli hostages all called for a Gaza truce to complement the Iran ceasefire.
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meeting Donald Trump in The Hague yesterday, hailed the Iran-Israel ceasefire but said Ankara and Washington must work closely to "end the war in Gaza".
Soldiers killed in Gaza overnight
It comes as Israel's army said seven of its soldiers were killed in combat in Gaza, where the war with Palestinian militant group Hamas continues.
The army's website listed the names of five soldiers and a platoon commander from the same battalion who "fell during combat in the southern Gaza Strip".
It added that a seventh soldier was also killed, but his family had not given permission for him to be named.
More than 430 Israeli soldiers have died in the war, triggered by Hamas' 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians.
The militants also seized 251 hostages - of which 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military say are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,077 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
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