The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said acute malnutrition is increasing in northern Gaza as Israel prepares to send a delegation to Qatar to ceasefire negotiations and hostage agreement with Hamas.
According to UNRWA, one in three children under two years old is severely malnourished, amid famine lurking in the region.
“Children’s malnutrition is spreading rapidly and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza,” UNRWA informed in a social media post. Hospitals in Gaza reported several children had died from malnutrition and dehydration.
Palestinian media said trucks delivering aid arrived in Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya in Gaza for the first time in four months. 13 trucks carrying flour arrived at the UNRWA facility. Western countries have called on Israel to allow aid.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said it faces “overwhelming obstacles” including border closures, tough checks, movement restrictions and unrest inside Gaza.
Israel insists it has not placed limits on humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and blames the slow delivery of aid on incompetence or ineffectiveness by United Nations agencies.
Meanwhile, the transport of relief goods by air and sea to Gaza has been launched. Humanitarian organizations said that the first shipment of World Central Kitchen, a pioneer on the new sea route through the Republic of Cyprus, arrived in Gaza on March 15.
President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides announced that the second food aid shipment is ready to depart by sea from the Republic of Cyprus, while the US and Jordan have carried out humanitarian aid drops.
Singapore is also providing humanitarian aid to Gaza through Jordan. A Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) C-130 aircraft will carry out humanitarian airdrop operations with support from the Jordanian Armed Forces.
Israel said it will send a delegation led by the head of the Mossad intelligence agency – David Barnea, to Qatar for further negotiations with mediators after Hamas made a new proposal for a ceasefire with the exchange of hostages and prisoners.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to convene the security cabinet to discuss this proposal. Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Hamas’s proposal was still based on “unrealistic demands”.