Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Humanitarian crisis in Gaza peaks with more than 12,000 kids dead

A Palestinian boy stands in his tent at a refugee camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb. 27, 2024, as battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas continue. (AFP via Getty Images)
A Palestinian boy stands in his tent at a refugee camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb. 27, 2024, as battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas continue. (AFP via Getty Images)

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, already dire, is entering a new phase, as the number of supply trucks entering Northern Gaza drops by 30%, and desperate families around the territory describe taking extreme measures like eating tree leaves to survive.

In the south, where the population of Rafah has swelled from about 350,000 to 1.4 million, shelter, services and food are in short supply, and growing scarcer.

Among the nearly 30,000 who have died during the 4.5-month-long conflict, 12,450 are children.

Janti Soeripto, president of Save the Children, joins host Scott Tong to discuss the mounting crisis and the impact it’s having on Gaza’s children.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.