Four more Palestinians died from starvation on Thursday, amid Israel's continuous blockade of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. This has raised the total number of hunger-related deaths in Gaza to 197, including 96 children.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has on Thursday warned that acute malnutrition in Gaza's children has reached the "highest levels" recorded to date, with over 12,000 children identified as acutely malnourished in the month of July.
"Acute malnutrition among children in Gaza has reached the highest levels recorded to date," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, reported Al Jazeera.
Haq pointed out that UN partners were able to reach only 8,700 of the 290,000 children under age five who needed feeding and nutrient supplements, due to "constraints on humanitarian access" amid Israel's blockade and continuous attacks on the enclave.
"Israel continues to block necessary assistance from entering Gaza... Aid that has entered remains by far insufficient, and our convoys continue to face impediments on their way to delivering aid,” he said.
Israel's genocidal war in Gaza has so far killed at least 61,258 Palestinians, more than half of it being women and children. It has also targeted and killed over 200 journalists, more than 1000 healthcare workers and aid workers.