Gaza reaches WHO's most critical malnutrition level amid Israeli blockade

The medical director of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital has warned that the Gaza Strip has reached the most critical level of malnutrition, Stage 5, under the World Health Organisation’s classification, as a result of the ongoing and severe blockade imposed by Israeli occupation forces.

Speaking to Voice of Palestine, Dr Khalil Al-Daqran described a dire humanitarian crisis in which children are suffering from extreme levels of malnutrition due to the severe shortage of food and infant formula, posing an immediate threat to their survival.

He also highlighted the grave risk facing approximately 200,000 Palestinians in Gaza with chronic illnesses, who are now without access to essential medications, putting their lives in imminent danger.

On Monday, the UN marked 50 days since Israel imposed a complete blockade on humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, warning of a rapidly deteriorating situation that is endangering the lives of civilians.

Last week, the Gaza-based Government Media Office warned of the shortage of medicine in Gaza and the spread of diseases among people in the war-torn enclave.

Israel resumed its offensive on the Gaza Strip on 18 March, abandoning a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January. It has killed nearly 51,400 Palestinians in the enclave since October 2023, most of them women and children, and wounded at least 117,000 more.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its genocidal war that has left the territory in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe.

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