The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday that after almost three months of war in the Gaza Strip, malnutrition and disease now threaten more than 1.1 million children.

90% of the more than 1.1 million children and adolescents in the Palestinian enclave do not get the nutrients they need, according to a UNICEF survey conducted in late December.

“Children in the Gaza Strip face a deadly triple threat to their lives as disease outbreaks increase, food availability plummets and the escalation of hostilities approaches its fourteenth week,” the UN children’s agency said.

The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip closes three months tomorrow.

At least 22,600 people have been killed in the Palestinian enclave, the vast majority of them women and children, according to the health ministry of Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007.

The war was triggered by an unprecedented attack by the military arm of Hamas and other Palestinian organizations against southern sectors of Israel on October 7, when some 1,140 people, mostly civilians, were killed. It was the deadliest attack by the Jewish state in 1948.

“Children in the Gaza Strip are trapped in a nightmare that is getting worse with each passing day,” commented Kathryn Russell, UNICEF’s executive director.

Diarrhea cases in children under 5 rose from 48,000 to 71,000 in just one week, from 17 December. According to the UN children’s agency, it is impossible for displaced families with children to maintain the necessary levels of hygiene to prevent the spread of disease, as drinking water and sanitation services have been cut off since the first twenty-four hours of the conflict.

Diarrhea, if prolonged, can kill any child.

“The future of thousands of children in the Gaza Strip hangs in the balance. The world cannot (…) just look. The violence and suffering of children must stop,” Ms Russell stressed.