CHILDREN in Gaza are dying of thirst with the situation "at the worst it has ever been", Unicef has said.
The UN agency has said the Palestinian territory of more than two million people is hitting "rock bottom" while the world's attention has turned to the conflict between Israel and Iran.
Unicef has said that 400 aid distribution points in Gaza had dwindled to just four as Israel continues to impose restrictions.
Children are beginning to die of thirst in Gaza as fuel for trucks to distribute water across the territory has not been allowed in, the organisation has said.
Unicef communications specialist for children in Gaza, Rosalia Bollen, said hospitals are on their last legs and are overwhelmed with the overflow of injured people, shortages of medicine and medical supplies.
Speaking to RTE, she said: "We are seeing a very chilling pattern day in, day out. No one should have to choose between dying of hunger or risking their life to get food."
She said gunfire and people screaming can be heard near aid distribution points.
According to figures issued by Gaza's health ministry, 500 people have been killed and nearly 3800 wounded in the territory by Israeli fire while seeking aid since the start of last month.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire killed at least 20 people this morning, including six who were waiting to collect food aid.
"Every child is hungry, thirsty and exhausted," Bollen said, adding that as temperatures soar, there is not enough clean water for sanitation.
"It’s really a man-made catastrophe we are seeing unfolding in front of our eyes."
Unicef said last week 5119 children between six months and five years of age were admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in May alone.
The conflict has damaged or destroyed essential water, sanitation, and health systems in Gaza, and has limited the ability to treat severe malnutrition, with just 127 of 236 treatment centres remaining functional.
Unicef regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, said: "Every one of these cases is preventable. The food, water, and nutrition treatments they desperately need are being blocked from reaching them.
"Man-made decisions that are costing lives. Israel must urgently allow the large-scale delivery of life-saving aid through all border crossings."
After a truce on the 12-day Iran-Israel conflict was announced, Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir said Israel's focus would "now shift back to Gaza".
Israel's brutal assault on Gaza on the back of the October 7 attacks has killed at least 56,077 people, according to the Gaza health ministry.
