The World Health Organization said on Wednesday it was seeing a deadly surge in malnutrition in Gaza that has led to the deaths of 21 children under five so far in 2025.

Malnutrition centers are full without sufficient supplies for emergency feeding, the health agency said, as the hunger crisis gets accelerated by the collapse of aid pipelines and restrictions on access.

Gaza has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May, but with conditions that it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups. However, aid agencies say that only a trickle of what is needed is currently reaching people in Gaza.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the health agency was unable to deliver any food for nearly 80 days between March and May, adding that the resumption of deliveries was still far below what is needed.

“The 2.1 million people up in the war zone that is Gaza are facing yet another killer on top of bombs and bullets, starvation; we’re now witnessing a deadly surge in malnutrition related disease,” Ghebreyesus said.

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(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru and Jennifer Rigby in London; Editing by Arun Koyyur)