WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency’s visits over the weekend to the Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals “were the first since early October 2023 despite our efforts to gain more regular access to the north of Gaza”.

The findings were “grim”, he said on X, adding that “the situation at Al-Awda was particularly appalling, as one of the buildings is destroyed”.

The Kamal Adwan hospital, the only paediatrics hospital in northern Gaza, was overwhelmed with patients, he said.

“The lack of food resulted in the deaths of 10 children,” Tedros added.

In all, the Gaza health ministry has said at least 16 children have died of malnutrition in aid-deprived northern Gaza.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 30,600 people and injured over 72,000 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

The Media Office in Gaza has announced nearly 13,500 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli airstrikes and ground operations since the start of the war.

It noted that 8,900 women were killed over the course of 150 days, adding that 7,000 people, 70% of whom are women and children, are still under the rubble or missing.

The media office added that 364 health personnel and 132 journalists also lost their lives during the period.

In an address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, Turk said he was deeply concerned that the war – now in its 150th day – had already generated dangerous spillover in neighbouring countries.

“Any spark could lead to a much broader conflagration,” Turk warned.

“This would have implications for every country in the Middle East,and many beyond it.”

The UN high commissioner for human rights added it is “imperative to do everything possible to avoid” a wider escalation and specifically cited the military escalation between Israel and Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon, calling them “extremely worrying”.

Since October 8, cross-border exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah as a direct result of the Gaza war have killed dozens of people, displaced tens of thousands and destroyed vital infrastructure.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks since October 7, the day Hamas carried out attacks inside Israel that killed 1,139 people.

Since November, Yemen’s Houthi fighters have also been targeting ships on the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden that they say are affiliated with Israel and they are carrying out in protest against the war on Gaza.

The attacks have disrupted international trade on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

The United States, Israel’s top ally, and the United Kingdom have led reprisal strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Turk said the Houthi attacks had not only disrupted global maritime trade but had also driven up the price of goods, which has had a significant impact on developing countries.

“There is a serious risk of the conflict extending to Yemen itself, with potentially severe harm to Yemen’s people, already suffering from the humanitarian crisis generated by a decade of war,” he added.