On Tuesday, Pope Francis urged for serious and tangible measures to end the aggression in Gaza.
The Pope expressed his pain over the “attack on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza” and his deep concern over the escalating violence in the region.
He also expressed hope for finding concrete paths to end the ongoing war.
A group of independent UN human rights experts reported on Tuesday that over one-fifth of Gaza’s population faces the most severe or “catastrophic” level of food insecurity. Recent child deaths due to malnutrition indicate widespread famine, Reuters reported.
Health authorities in Gaza confirmed that at least 33 children have died from malnutrition, primarily in the northern areas, which have endured intense bombing since Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7.
Since early May, the conflict has extended to southern Gaza, disrupting aid flows amid Israeli-imposed restrictions. Israel accuses UN agencies of inefficiently distributing relief supplies.
The group of 11 experts, in their statement on Tuesday, highlighted the deaths of three children, aged 13, 9, and 6 months, due to malnutrition in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and Deir al-Balah in central Gaza since the end of May.
The experts stated, “With these children dying from hunger despite medical treatment in central Gaza, there is no doubt that famine has spread from northern to central and southern Gaza.”
