RABAT, May 1. /TASS/. As many as 92% of children aged from six months to two years in the Gaza Strip don’t receive basic nutrition, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, citing the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

According to the UN agency, the number of children treated for malnutrition in Gaza has risen by 80% since March.

OCHA added that 65% of Gaza’s population has no access to drinking water.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of border settlements and taking hostages. In response, Israel launched a military operation in the Palestinian enclave to destroy Hamas military and political wings and free all hostages.

On March 18, the Israeli military resumed military operations in Gaza, launching heavy strikes on the enclave, thus breaking the ceasefire deal that had been reached in January. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that the move was due to Hamas’s rejection of proposals put forward by mediators and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff. According to the Israeli authorities, the goal of the operation is to ensure the release of all hostages held in Gaza. Hamas, in turn, blamed Israel and the US for the resumption of military activities.