Almost 15,000 Gaza children diagnosed with acute malnutrition

Nearly 15,000 children in Gaza have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition since early this year, according to the United Nations.

The UN humanitarian office OCHA has said that 239,580 children were checked since mid-January, leading to 14,750 diagnoses of malnutrition affecting children aged between six months to just under five years, including 3,288 cases of severe acute malnutrition.

"So far, we have counted nearly 5,000 children. And symptoms of malnutrition apply in one-third of cases," said Kamal Adwan Hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya.

He added that a quarter of these cases "were not sent for intensive care" since they "were classified as malnutrition with complications".

"Now, these cases are present in the malnutrition treatment department at Kamal Adwan Hospital," he said in a video from the UN's World Health Organization (WHO).

"The influx of cases with complications means that this is the stage – God forbid – that comes before death."

Kamal Adwan Hospital is located in northern Gaza and has a malnutrition treatment centre supported by WHO.

There are only three other locations in Gaza engaged in this sphere, the UN's news service reported.

Abu Safiya called for the "entry of all necessary medications, foods, and therapeutic milk" for treating these cases.

Hospitals, ambulances, places of worship and residential homes have come under attack during Israel's war on Gaza.

A longtime, crushing Israeli siege on the strip was intensified following the outbreak of war, with only limited quantities of aid have been allowed in.

The situation has put pressure on the food system and humanitarian conditions, taking the territory to the verge of famine.

The Israeli war on the strip has so far killed at least 40,405 people, according to the Gaza health ministry.

South Africa has taken Israel to the International Court of Justice, the UN's top tribunal, accusing it of committing genocide.