An IRC assessment conducted last month among 469 displaced families in the cities of Gaza, Deir El-Balah, and Khan Yunis found that one in three children under the age of three had not eaten anything in the 24 hours prior to the survey, while nearly three-quarters of families with young children showed visible signs of malnutrition.

Families are skipping meals, reducing portions, and surviving with little or no access to protein or fresh produce, and the number of infants suffering serious injuries, mostly caused by shrapnel, is increasing.

Amputations resulting from these injuries have also increased, a devastating trend, he warned, with Gaza recording “the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world,” totaling some 4,000 since the start of the conflict in October 2023.

“These are children who have lost limbs, who wake up screaming from nightmares, who no longer feel safe even in their own families,” lamented Ciaran Donnelly, vice president of the IRC.

Our teams are doing everything they can to support them, but without safe access and basic supplies, their recovery is at risk, he warned.

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