In a message on the social network X, the representative of the World Health Organization, noted that ‘malnutrition plays a key role in those children and in the number of deaths of infants in Gaza´.

“Gaza’s children who survived the shelling may not survive the famine, Adhanom wrote on X.

“The children of Gaza who survived the shelling may not survive the famine,” Adhanom wrote on X.

“When a child is supposed to have three meals and ends up having only one, it is not enough; his body becomes deficient in carbohydrates, vitamins, proteins and deficient in fats that are necessary for the body; then the body goes into a serious state of dehydration,” explained physician Imad Dardonah, of the pediatric unit at Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, in a video on the same social network.

The doctor noted that doctors at his hospital are unable to treat 50 to 60 percent of the malnutrition cases they receive, and their only recourse is to provide children with a saline or sugar solution.

According to figures released by the United Nations, one in six children under two years of age in the north of the enclave suffers from acute malnutrition.

In addition, nearly three percent are severely wasted, which puts their lives at greater risk and the possibility of medical complications and death unless they receive urgent treatment.

The report Nutritional Situation and Vulnerability Analysis in Gaza states that before the outbreak of hostilities in October, wasting of infants in the Gaza Strip was rare, barely recorded in 0.8 percent of children under five years of age.

The 15.6 percent rate of wasting among children under two in northern Gaza suggests a serious and rapid decline,’ warned the text prepared by the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food Program and the World Health Organization.

Such a decline in the nutritional status of a population in three months is unprecedented worldwide, confirmed the study published last February.

ef/abo/ro/cdg