Thousands of Gaza children are malnourished under Israel's food blockade, aid groups say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Aid groups are raising new alarm over Israel's blockade of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where it has barred entry of all food and other goods for more than six weeks. Thousands of children have become malnourished, and most people are barely eating one meal a day as stocks dwindle, the United Nations says.

The warning came as Israeli strikes overnight and into Thursday killed at least 27 people, including at least six women and 15 children.

The humanitarian aid system in Gaza ''is facing total collapse,'' the heads of 12 independent aid organizations warned in a joint statement. They said many groups have shut down operations because Israel's resumed bombardment the past month has made it too dangerous.

No food, fuel, medicine or any other supplies have entered Gaza since Israel imposed its blockade on March 2. It renewed its bombardment on March 18, breaking a ceasefire, and seized large parts of the territory, saying it aims to push Hamas to release more hostages. Hundreds have been killed, and more than 400,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee their shelters in the latest of multiple displacements.

Latest attacks

A strike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed a family of 10, including five children, four women and a man, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Strikes in northern Gaza killed two other couples with nine children, according to the Indonesian Hospital.

A later strike hit a school sheltering displaced people in the northern district of Jabaliya, killing three people and a child. The blast left walls in rubble and classrooms strewn with debris, charred mattresses and scattered cans of food.

The Israeli military strikes homes, shelters and public areas daily, saying it is targeting Hamas militants, and blames militants for civilian deaths because they operate there. It says it tries to limit civilian casualties. There was no immediate comment on the latest strikes.

Nearly all rely on charity kitchens

The U.N. humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said almost all of Gaza's more than 2 million people now rely on charity kitchens, which can prepare only 1 million meals a day. The meals mainly consist of rice or pasta with no fresh vegetables or meat.

Other food distribution programs have shut down for lack of supplies, and the U.N. and other aid groups have been sending their remaining stocks to the charity kitchens.

In markets — the only other place to find food in Gaza — prices are spiraling and shortages are widespread, with fresh foods nearly non-existent. As a result, humanitarian aid is the primary food source for 80% of the population, the World Food Program said in its monthly report for April.

''The Gaza Strip is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months" since the war began, OCHA said.

''Kids are eating less than a meal a day and struggling to find their next meal,'' said Bushra Khalil, policy head at Oxfam. ''Everyone is purely eating canned food. … Malnutrition and pockets of famine are definitely occurring in Gaza.''

Hani Almadhoun, co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen, said his kitchen has food for about three more weeks. Already, he said, up to one in five of those who come to his kitchen for food leave empty-handed.

Water is also growing scarce, with Palestinians standing in long lines to fill jerry cans from trucks. Omar Shatat, an official with a local water utility, said people are down to six or seven liters per day, well below the U.N. estimate for basic needs.

More hungry children, and harder to reach

In March, more than 3,600 children were newly admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition, up from around 2,000 the month before, according to OCHA, which said "the rapid deterioration of the nutrition situation is already visible.''

Aid groups are also less able to treat malnourished children because of Israel's airstrikes and ground operations. Aid workers could only reach 22,300 children under 5 with nutrient supplements in March, down 70% from the month before. Only around 100 of the original 173 treatment sites still function, OCHA said.

"Humanitarians have been forced to watch people suffer and die while carrying the impossible burden of providing relief with depleted supplies, all while facing the same life-threatening conditions themselves,'' said Amande Bazerolle, emergency coordinator in Gaza for Doctors Without Borders.

''This is not a humanitarian failure — it is a political choice, and a deliberate assault on a people's ability to survive, carried out with impunity,'' she said in a statement.

Israeli bombardment endangers aid workers

A survey of 47 aid groups found that 95% of them have reduced or entirely halted operations, mainly because bombardment made it too dangerous, according to the joint statement by the heads of humanitarian organizations, which included the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Save the Children, CARE and Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Israel has largely stopped coordinating with humanitarian groups over their movements in Gaza. That means aid workers have no assurance the military won't strike them. COGAT, the military agency in charge of aid coordination, acknowledged stopping the system, which had been in place before the ceasefire.

Since mid-March, Israeli fire has hit the staff or facilities of at least 14 organizations, and around 60 aid workers have been killed, according to the statement. The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday one of its facilities was hit by an explosion the day before, the second time in three weeks the organization had been struck.

''When our staff and partners, our convoys, our offices, our warehouses are shelled, the message is loud and clear: Even lifesaving aid is no longer protected,'' the 12 aid organization heads said. ''This is unacceptable.''

Israel says the blockade is a pressure tactic

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that the blockade is one of the ''central pressure tactics'' against Hamas, which Israel accuses of siphoning off aid to maintain its rule. Aid workers deny there is significant diversion of aid, saying the U.N. closely monitors distribution. Rights groups have called it a ''starvation tactic.''

Israel is demanding that Hamas release more hostages at the start of any new ceasefire and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory. Katz said that even afterward Israel will occupy large ''security zones'' inside Gaza.

Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas' negotiating delegation, said Thursday the group had rejected Israel's latest proposal along those lines. He reiterated Hamas' stance that it will return hostages only in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached earlier this year.

Hamas currently holds 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Of the 59 hostages still in captivity in Gaza, Israel believes 35 are dead.

Israel's offensive has since killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. The war has displaced around 90% of the population, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.

___

Khaled and Keath reported from Cairo.

___

Follow AP's war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war