UNICEF says that in the coming weeks at least 10,000 children under the age of five will suffer from the “severe wasting”, the most deadly form of malnutrition.

This crisis, the agency says, comes at a time when Gaza’s “food and health systems are facing complete collapse” – more than 80 per cent of young children are experiencing severe food poverty, and more than two thirds of hospitals are no longer functioning.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned the world of the very high risk of famine in the Strip, which increases every day if the situation persists, UNICEF stressed.

In this regard, it noted that one in four households in the coastal enclave, which translates into more than half a million people, face catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, the highest level of alert.

pll/jav/mem/Rob