Gaza is on the brink of running out of the specialised therapeutic food needed to save the lives of severely malnourished children, United Nations and humanitarian agencies say.
“We are now facing a dire situation, that we are running out of therapeutic supplies,” Salim Oweis, a spokesperson for Unicef in Amman, Jordan, told Reuters.
He said supplies of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a crucial treatment, would be depleted by mid-August if nothing changed.
“That’s really dangerous for children as they face hunger and malnutrition at the moment,” he added.
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Mr Oweis said Unicef had only enough RUTF left to treat 3,000 children. In the first two weeks of July alone, Unicef treated 5,000 children facing acute malnutrition in Gaza.
Nutrient-dense, high-calorie RUTF supplies, such as high-energy biscuits and peanut paste enriched with milk powder, are critical for treating severe malnutrition.
“Most malnutrition treatment supplies have been consumed and what is left at facilities will run out very soon if not replenished,” a World Health Organisation spokesperson said on Thursday.
World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday Gaza was suffering man-made mass starvation caused by a blockade on aid into the enclave.
Israel will allow foreign countries to parachute aid into Gaza starting on Friday, Israeli army radio quoted a military official as saying.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry says more than 100 people have died from starvation in the Palestinian enclave since Israel cut off supplies to the territory in March.
Israel, which has been at war with Hamas in Gaza since October 2023, lifted that blockade in May but has restrictions in place that it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf Arab states on Friday welcomed French president Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France would recognise the state of Palestine, and urged other countries to follow suit, AFP reports.
The Saudi foreign ministry said: “The kingdom commends this historic decision, which reaffirms the international community’s consensus on the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and to establish their independent state.”
It called on other countries “that have not yet recognised the State of Palestine to take similar positive steps”.
Qatar, a key mediator in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas on ending the Gaza war, also welcomed the French move.
Gaza ceasefire talks are expected to resume next week following Israel’s review of the response by Palestinian Hamas militants, Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Friday, citing an Egyptian source. – Agencies
