The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) confirmed that the child mortality rate in the Gaza Strip has reached unprecedented levels due to famine and the ongoing deterioration of humanitarian conditions since the beginning of the aggression against the strip on October 7, 2023.

In a media briefing delivered by the organization's Deputy Executive Director, Ted Chaiban, during his recent visit to the region, he noted that children in Gaza are showing clear signs of hunger and suffering on their faces, and that the choices made now will determine the fate of tens of thousands of them, either to survive or to die.

Chaiban stated that "more than 18,000 children have been martyred since the beginning of the war," warning that Gaza is now facing the threat of famine, with one in three people going days without food, and that the rate of acute malnutrition has exceeded the global threshold, reaching 16.5 percent.

He added that the situation requires urgent intervention, by allowing at least 500 trucks daily into the strip through all routes, to provide the necessary humanitarian and commercial aid to save lives and alleviate suffering.

The UN official emphasized that the humanitarian situation in Gaza requires an urgent response from the international community, especially with the ongoing aggression and worsening humanitarian crisis, stressing that current choices will decisively determine the future of children in the strip.