Reacting to the UN Experts statement yesterday on the deaths of three children across Gaza from malnutrition, Daw Mohamed, CARE’s Interim Country Director for West Bank and Gaza, said:
“It is devastating to hear of the deaths of three young children from malnutrition and lack of access to adequate healthcare across Gaza in recent weeks. The oldest were aged 13 and nine years old, while the youngest was just six months old. An estimated 50,000 children will require treatment for acute malnutrition this year in Gaza. Without access to healthcare and scaling up the delivery of humanitarian aid, we fear that the situation will get worse.
"Almost half a million people (22 percent of the population) are facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity. For months, CARE and other humanitarian organisations have warned about this unfolding tragedy, including its disproportionate impacts on women and children. The world must not wait for a formal famine declaration to act and bring an end to this suffering.
"The closure of border crossings, obstructions on the entry and delivery of humanitarian aid and the lack of safety for humanitarian workers are further contributing to the inhumane conditions Palestinians are facing across the Gaza strip. Patients requiring urgent care cannot be evacuated since the closure of the Rafah crossing. Israel, as the Occupying Power, must uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law. We continue to call for a massive increase in the flow of aid and humanitarian workers into Gaza, as well as an immediate and sustained ceasefire.”
For media enquiries, please contact Hannah Copeland at CARE International UK, press.uk@careinternational.org
