Russell took to her social media account X to express shock over the report a day before that some 10 children died of malnutrition in Gaza.
“Horrific new out of Gaza that at least 10 children have died of malnutrition and dehydration so far while many more are on the brink”, she wrote, adding that 1 in 6 children under the age of two in northern Gaza are acutely malnourished.
Russell called for a “ceasefire now”, arguing that “every minute counts” for children in Gaza facing “deadly” malnutrition.
She stated that even a minute’s delay in the access of Palestinian children in Gaza to food, water, medical care and protection from Israeli bullets and bombs will have terrible consequences.
“None of these things will be possible without establishing a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza,” stressed the UNICEF chief who once called Gaza the “most dangerous place in the world to be a child.”
Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, has also called for sanctions against Israel after warning a “famine may very well be already occurring” in Gaza amid reports a 10th child died from starvation.
“Israel has been intentionally starving the Palestinian people in Gaza since October 8,” Fakhri said in a post on social media.
“The only way to end/prevent this famine is an immediate ceasefire. And the only way to get a ceasefire is to sanction Israel,” he added.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip has announced on Sunday that 90 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in “nine massacres” over the past 24 hours, with 117 others wounded.
This brings the death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7 to 30,410, with about 71,700 injured.
