A further military escalation could put more children at risk due to malnutrition and a shortage of access to medical care, the WHO chief wrote on his X profile.

We reiterate our call for immediate and unhindered access to food and healthcare aid, hostages’ release, and a permanent ceasefire, he insisted.

Ghebreyesus warned that the population there is “dying of hunger and disease, but also in the desperate search for food.”

The current blockade must end and greater aid must be sent to rebuild critical supplies, the WHO chief said, referring to the siege imposed by the Israeli Army.

At the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli security cabinet approved a military campaign to reoccupy the territory, beginning in the northern city of Gaza, following the expulsion of up to one million Palestinians from that city.

The announcement sparked a wave of international condemnation from governments, NGOs, and the UN.

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