The share of screened children found to be acutely malnourished in Gaza rose to a record 13.5 per cent in August, up from 8.3pc the month before, Al Jazeera reports citing the UN children’s agency.

In Gaza City, the rate was higher, reaching 20pc in August, Unicef said.

The agency added the proportion of hospitalised children suffering from the life-threatening form of malnutrition — severe acute malnutrition — has also surged across the besieged territory, climbing to 23 percent compared with 12 percent six months ago.

“No child should suffer from malnutrition, which we can prevent and treat when we have access and can deliver safely,” Unicef Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.

She noted that Israel’s military attacks on Gaza City have forced about a dozen nutrition centres to shut down, “leaving children even more vulnerable” there.

“Nutrition services must be protected in Gaza City and across Gaza,” the Unicef official stressed.