News - UN: Famine spreads throughout Gaza Strip

The recent deaths of more children from malnutrition in the Gaza Strip indicate that hunger has spread throughout the enclave, a group of independent human rights experts mandated by the United Nations said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.Gaza health authorities report that at least 33 children have died of malnutrition, mostly in northern areas that until recently bore the brunt of an Israeli military campaign launched after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7.The war has spread to southern Gaza since early May, curbing humanitarian aid deliveries to the enclave amid restrictions from Israel, which has accused UN agencies of failing to distribute supplies effectively.In a statement issued Tuesday, a panel of 11 human rights experts cited the deaths of three children aged 13 years, nine years and six months from malnutrition in the southern Khan Younis neighborhood and the central Deir al-Balah neighborhood since late May."Given the deaths of these children from starvation despite medical treatment in central Gaza, there is no doubt that starvation has spread from northern Gaza to central and southern Gaza," the experts said.For its part, Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva said the statement was disinformation. The IPC said last month that the risk of famine remains high in Gaza as the war continues and aid access is limited.More than 495,000 people across Gaza - more than a fifth of the population - face the most severe, or catastrophic, level of food insecurity, up from a projected 1.1 million in the previous update.