Tel Aviv/Gaza, 21 August 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The number of malnourished children in the Gaza Strip has tripled since March, according to the United Nations.

Nearly one-third of children in Gaza City alone are malnourished, Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), wrote on X on Wednesday.

This figure is six times higher than before the end of the ceasefire in March and the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"This is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made, preventable starvation," Lazzarini added.

The UNRWA figures are based on a study of nearly 100,000 children under the age of 5.

UNRWA and other aid organizations have been unable to deliver supplies to Gaza for almost six months. The agency stated that its warehouses in Egypt and Jordan contain enough provisions to load 6,000 lorries, with food supplies sufficient for three months.

In mid-July, UNRWA reported that 10% of children examined in its clinics were malnourished.

In recent weeks, international pressure on Israel has grown due to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the embattled Gaza Strip.

Israel has blocked aid deliveries to Gaza and accused the Islamist group Hamas of diverting supplies. It previously alleged members of UNRWA participated in the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Southern Israel in October 2023 which sparked the Gaza war.

The controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supported by both Israel and the United States, began distributing aid at the end of May instead.

However, deadly incidents have repeatedly occurred near the four GHF centres in Gaza.

According to the Israeli military, 154 pallets of aid were also dropped over the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. However, air-dropping aid is controversial due to its high cost and the difficulty of ensuring controlled distribution, as noted by the World Food Programme (WFP).

Photo: epa