Officially, U.N. report cites 10 kids starving to death in Gaza, but officials fear even more similar deaths

Ehren Wynder
·2 min read
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Palestinians attend Friday prayers near the ruins of a mosque destroyed in Israeli strikes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday. Ten children have reportedly died from malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza hospitals since Oct. 7, but the United Nations warned the unofficial number could be higher. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI.
Palestinians attend Friday prayers near the ruins of a mosque destroyed in Israeli strikes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday. Ten children have reportedly died from malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza hospitals since Oct. 7, but the United Nations warned the unofficial number could be higher. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI.

March 1 (UPI) -- Ten children have starved to death in Gaza, according to a United Nations report released Friday. Even more child starvation deaths are feared.

U.N. World Health Organization spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said in a statement that the official record as of Friday states 10 children have died in Gaza hospitals from malnutrition and dehydration.

"A very sad threshold ... [but] the unofficial numbers can unfortunately be expected to be higher," Lindmeier said.

Israel's ongoing war with Hamas has led to one in four Palestinians facing "catastrophic levels" of food insecurity, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The U.N. and European Union have called for an investigation into an incident Thursday when over 100 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in northern Gaza while awaiting food and aid from a relief convoy.

Palestinians carry away the body of a victim found under the rubble of a house, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. on Friday.The death toll in Gaza of Palestinians killed climbed above 30,000, most of them women and children, health authorities said. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI
Palestinians carry away the body of a victim found under the rubble of a house, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. on Friday.The death toll in Gaza of Palestinians killed climbed above 30,000, most of them women and children, health authorities said. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI

Hamas accused the Israel Defense Force of opening fire on Palestinians seeking aid, but the IDF denied any wrongdoing and claimed the victims were trampled after the crowd rushed the convoy.

Humanitarian organizations have told the U.N. Security Council that the pattern of attacks by the IDF against hospitals and relief convoys was "either intentional or indicative of reckless incompetence."

A Palestinian man stands at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The United Nations has said the ongoing conflict between the Israel Defense Force and Hamas has led to "catastrophic levels" of food insecurity among Palestinians. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI
A Palestinian man stands at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The United Nations has said the ongoing conflict between the Israel Defense Force and Hamas has led to "catastrophic levels" of food insecurity among Palestinians. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI

"We saw pictures from Al-Shifa [hospital] where victims ... were lying next to each other waiting for any treatment," Lindmeier said, noting all of Gaza's water and electricity has "more or less been cut" since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.

OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said the conflict has made finding food in Gaza "almost impossible."

"Putting food on the table ... has completely stopped. The very foundation for people's daily sustenance is being ripped away."

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which is used by aid agencies as a reference, indicated the entire population of Gaza [about 2.1 million] faces "crisis" levels of food insecurity, about 50% [1.17 million] of the population face "emergency" levels of food insecurity, and around half a million people are facing "catastrophic conditions."