The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday said malnutrition rates are rising in Gaza and emergency treatments to counter it are running out.

It added that hunger could have a lasting impact on “an entire generation.”

Israel has blockaded supplies into the enclave since early March, when it resumed its devastating military campaign against Hamas, and a global hunger monitor on Monday warned that half a million people there faced starvation.

WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Rik Peeperkorn, said he had seen children who looked years younger than their age and visited a north Gaza hospital where over 20 per cent of children screened suffered from acute malnutrition.

Mr Peeperkorn told a press briefing by video link from Deir al-Balah that “what we see is an increasing trend in generalised acute malnutrition.

“I’ve seen a child that’s five years old, and you would say it was two-and-a-half. Without enough nutritious food, clean water, and access to healthcare, an entire generation will be permanently affected.”

He also warned of stunting and impaired cognitive development.

The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, Philippe Lazzarini, told the BBC on Tuesday that he thought Israel was denying food and aid to civilians as a weapon of war.

Israel has repeatedly blamed Hamas for causing hunger by stealing aid meant for civilians. Hamas has denied the allegation.

Israel is pressing its U.S.-backed plan to get aid into Gaza, which it said will cut out Hamas and distribute aid directly from what it calls neutral distribution sites.

The WHO criticised it in a statement on Monday as “grossly inadequate” to meet the population’s immediate needs.

Due to the blockade, the WHO only has enough stock to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition, which is only a fraction of what is needed, Peeperkorn said.

He added that 55 children have died of acute malnutrition, citing Gaza Health Ministry figures.

Mr Peeperkorn said he had seen many children in hospitals with illnesses such as gastroenteritis and pneumonia, which, due to their reduced immunity linked to hunger, could be fatal.

“You normally don’t die from starvation. You die from the diseases associated with that,” he added.

(Reuters/NAN)