Almost a third of Gazans 'not eating for days': UN agency

Gaza Faces "Astonishing Levels of Desperation" as Hunger Grips the Strip

Near Third of Population Skipping Meals; 90,000 Children and Women in Urgent Need of Nutritional Support

The United Nations food aid agency has sounded the alarm on a deepening hunger crisis in Gaza, revealing that nearly one-third of the population is going days without eating.

"Nearly one person in three is not eating for days. Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment," a statement from the Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP) declared on Friday. The agency previously warned of a "critical risk of famine" in the war-ravaged territory where international condemnation of Israel’s actions is mounting.

The situation is dire, with the WFP predicting that 470,000 people will face “catastrophic hunger” – the most critical category under the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase classification – between May and September this year.

"Food aid is the only way for people to access any food as food prices are through the roof," the WFP emphasized. "People are dying from lack of humanitarian assistance.”

Aid groups have reported a surge in malnourished children in Gaza since Israel imposed an aid blockade on the territory in March amidst its ongoing conflict with Hamas.