by & nbspjerry fisayo-bambi & nbspwith & nbspAP
It’s published •update
The United Nations reported Tuesday that malnutrition rates among children in the Gaza Strip have doubled since Israel strictly restricted food input in March.
According to UNRWA, the main UN agency that cares for Palestinians in Gaza, about 10.2% of children under the age of five who were screened at the UN clinic in June were found to be acute malnutrition.
By comparison, in March, 5.5% of the nearly 15,000 children screened were malnourished.
The UN statement came when health authorities in the enclave allegedly claimed a new Israeli strike in which around 90 Palestinians, including women and children scores, was killed.
Hunger has risen among more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza since Israel broke the ceasefire in March to resume the war and Hamas aimed to pressure them to release hostages, banning all food and other supplies from entering Gaza. The lockdown was eased a little in late May, allowing for trickling aid.
5,870 malnutrition cases among children in June – UNICEF
According to UNICEF, which screens children separately from UNRWA, the clinic recorded approximately 5,870 cases of malnutrition in children in June, a fourth consecutive month of increase and more than double the approximately 2,000 cases recorded in February.
Experts have warned of hunger since Israel tightened its long lockdown in March.
Israel carries an average of 69 trucks per day, including food, as it eased the lockdown in May, according to the latest figures from Cogat, the Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid.
That’s well below the hundreds of trucks a day that the United Nations says is needed to maintain Gaza’s population.
New Israeli airstrikes kill several families
Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry said in a daily report Tuesday that 93 bodies killed in Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals in Gaza for the past 24 hours, causing 278 people to be injured.
Local officials at Shifa Hospital said one of the strikes at the North Shati refugee camp killed a 68-year-old Hamas member of the Palestinian Parliament, killing a man, woman and six children refugee in the same building.
Hamas politicians were killed on strike early on Tuesday, and Mohammed Faraj al-Ghur was part of the group’s representatives who won a seat in the Palestinian Legislative Council in the last national election held in 2006.
Earlier this week, one of the most deadly strikes crashed into a home in Gaza City’s Telhawa district on Monday evening, killing 19 members of the family living inside. The deaths included eight women and six children. People attacked by tent housing in the same district killed a man and a woman, as well as their two children.
The Israeli military did not comment on the strike. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) claims it is targeting extremists only and says it is trying to protect civilians.
The IDF has condemned private deaths in Hamas and accused extremists of operating in densely populated areas.
