The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that its baby milk supplies in Gaza are nearly depleted. According to a recent statement, only six boxes remain to distribute, while around 8,500 infants in the Gaza Strip rely on this milk as their primary source of nutrition.

UNRWA highlighted that the remaining supplies are from a batch received three months ago. This alarming shortage poses a severe threat to the lives of infants and the 200,000 individuals who depend on the agency’s humanitarian services.

The statement further underscored the worsening conditions, as approximately 19,000 children in Gaza have been hospitalised due to extreme malnutrition over the past four months—a number that has doubled since the start of the year.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, Director of Al-Tahrir Hospital for Children and Maternity at Nasser Medical Complex, linked the crisis to restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on the entry of essential goods into Gaza. According to Dr. Al-Farra, the Israeli occupation has blocked the entry of baby milk for three months, leading to its complete disappearance from local markets.

Dr. Al-Farra warned of the devastating consequences of this lack of baby milk and special nutritional formulas, stressing that they are vital for the health of infants, especially in hospitals and pharmacies. The situation has escalated into a severe humanitarian crisis, with vulnerable children at the centre of this struggle.

Efforts to address this shortage are critical as the consequences of continued restrictions and shortages threaten to compound the already dire health and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.