Mr. Lazzarini made the remarks in a social media post, in which he noted that the siege, which is preventing food, medicines, water and fuel from entering the occupied Palestinian territory, has lasted longer than blockades imposed during the first phase of the war.

The UNRWA chief pointed out that people in Gaza depend on imports via Israel for their survival. “Every day that passes without the entry of aid means more children go to bed hungry, diseases spread and deprivation deepens.” Gaza, he added, is inching closer to an acute hunger crisis.

The current conflict began after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023. In those attacks, 1,195 people were killed in Israel and over 250 taken hostage. In the subsequent military operations in Gaza, at least 50,00 Palestinians are believed to have been killed.

After a brief ceasefire, during which several hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, a bombing campaign and ground operation against Gaza has resumed. Since then, hundreds of civilians, including children, have been killed.

Sam Rose, UNRWA Acting Director of Affairs in the enclave, warned on Friday that, if the ceasefire is not restored, it will lead to “large-scale loss of life, damage to infrastructure and property, increased risk of infectious disease, and massive trauma for the one million children and for the two million civilians who live in Gaza.”

Describing the banning of aid as a “collective punishment” on Gaza’s population, overwhelmingly “children, women and ordinary men,” Mr. Lazzarini called for the siege to be lifted, for Hamas to release the remaining hostages and for humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to be brought into Gaza uninterrupted and at scale.

The attack on one of the last operational hospitals in the area further deepened the ongoing humanitarian crisis sparked by the civil war between rival militaries, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which started in April 2023.

Among the stolen supplies were 2,200 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food – a crucial treatment for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition characterized by severe weight loss and muscle wasting.

Also stolen were iron and folic acid supplements for pregnant and lactating women, as well as midwife kits and primary healthcare supplies meant for mothers, newborns and children.

Attack on their survival

“Stealing life-saving supplies meant for malnourished children is outrageous and a direct attack on their survival,” said Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF.

“These unconscionable acts against vulnerable children must end. All parties must adhere to international humanitarian law, protect civilians, and ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access to those in need.”

UNICEF had successfully delivered these supplies on 20 December last year, marking the first humanitarian shipment to Jabal Awlia in over 18 months. However, the looting, combined with escalating violence that has forced aid operations to suspend, is pushing the region’s most vulnerable closer to disaster.

Children pushed closer to catastrophe

The hospital is situated in Jabal Awlia, one of 17 localities at risk of famine.

The region has been struggling with severe shortages of food, medicine and other essentials. Fighting has blocked commercial and humanitarian supplies for more than three months, leaving thousands of civilians trapped amid intensified fighting.

More than 4,000 people have been forced to flee, further deepening the crisis.

Unprecedented humanitarian crisis

Beyond Jabal Awlia, the humanitarian disaster extends across Sudan, where millions are facing life-threatening conditions.

More than 24.6 million people – over half the population – are facing acute food insecurity, and the collapse of health services, the closure of schools and record levels of displacement have created an unprecedented crisis.

In the face of rising challenges, UNICEF called on all actors to urgently ensure unimpeded humanitarian access to deliver aid, the protection of hospitals and civilian infrastructure, as well as security guarantees for aid workers to ensure life-saving assistance can reach those in need.

“We’re waking up from another intense night of bombardments, the fourth night of bombardment since the ceasefire abruptly broke down on Monday night…the situation is gravely, gravely concerning,” said Sam Rose, Acting Director of Affairs in Gaza for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees.

Speaking from close to the Netzarim Corridor bisecting the Gaza Strip which Israeli security forces have begun to reoccupy, Mr. Rose said that bombardments “across the Gaza Strip” caused large-scale loss of life in the past four days.

His comments came as the Israeli Defense Minister reportedly issued instructions for further occupation of parts of Gaza and warned of partial annexation unless further hostages are released.

“Most of those deaths have occurred at night, the Ministry of Health here is reporting around 600 people killed; among those, around 200 women and children,” Mr. Rose told journalists via video link in Geneva. “Absolutely desperate tragedies.”

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) also relayed familiar scenes of panic and desperation from medical and ambulance teams in Gaza: “Colleagues have had hundreds of call-outs across the Gaza Strip and responded to dozens of fatalities and injuries as bombing continues,” he said. 

“Doctors are exhausted, essential medical supplies are running low and corridors are crowded with people either in need of treatment or waiting to find out whether their loved ones will survive.”

Evacuation order misery

UNRWA’s Mr. Rose also described the damaging impact of new Israeli evacuation orders on an estimated 100,000 Gazans, in addition to the Israeli decision on 2 March to stop all humanitarian deliveries into the enclave. Aid convoys had been allowed back into Gaza on 19 January, when the fragile six-week ceasefire between Hamas and Israel began.

“This is the longest period [without aid being trucked in] since the start of the conflict back in October 2023,” Mr. Rose insisted.

He added that if the ceasefire is not restored, it will result in “large-scale loss of life, damage to infrastructure property, increased risk of infectious disease and massive trauma for the one million children and for the two million civilians who live in Gaza. And it’s worse this time because people are already exhausted.”

Bakery closure anxiety

The UNRWA senior officer warned that an estimated one million people in March will likely go without rations, “so we will only reach one million people rather than two million” he said, adding that six of the 25 bakeries that the UN World Food Programme (WFP) supports have already closed.

Gazans worried about food shortages are already congregating around bakeries in greater numbers than before the aid blockade resumed.

“As this continues, we will see a gradual slide back into what we saw in the worst days of the conflicts in terms of looting, in terms of crowd problems, in terms of agitation and frustration, all translating into desperate conditions amongst the population,” Mr. Rose said.

He explained the risk of aid supply cuts to malnourished children in Gaza who need steady supplies for five to six weeks “just to stabilize their condition – there’s no improvement in their weights (and) in their nutritional situation over those weeks”.

From the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), spokesperson James Elder condemned the impact of the war on the enclave’s youngsters, since it erupted on 7 October 2023 in response to Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel that killed around 1,250 people and left more than 250 taken hostage.

“Child psychologists would say our absolute nightmare is that they return home and then [the war] starts again. So, that’s the terrain that we’ve now entered. We don’t have an example in modern history in terms of an entire child population needing mental health support. And there’s no exaggeration that’s the case.”

UNRWA’s Mr. Rose noted that before the resumption of Israeli bombing, the UN agency had restored primary healthcare to 200,000 people by reopening its health centres.

In addition, children once again had access to education, with some 50,000 boys and girls back at school across central and southern Gaza.

“The images, the videos, the life and the happiness in the eyes of the children – the pupils – was really something to behold,” Mr. Rose said. “One of the few positive stories that we’d have been able to communicate from from Gaza, but alas, all that is, is back to naught.”