Gaza /PNN / 

An aid mission to two hospitals in northern Gaza found horrifying scenes of children dying of starvation, amid dire shortages of food, fuel and medicines, the World Health Organization said Monday.

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 said.

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

In addition to the dire lack of food at the two northern hospitals, Tedros also cautioned on X that "the lack of electricity poses a serious threat to patient care, especially in critical areas like the intensive care unit and the neonatal unit".

During the weekend mission, the UN health agency delivered 9,500 litres of fuel to each hospital, along with some essential medical supplies, he said.

"This is a fraction of the urgent lifesaving needs."

The WHO chief reiterated an appeal to Israel to "ensure humanitarian aid can be delivered safely, and regularly".

"Civilians, especially children, and health staff need scaled-up help immediately," he said, stressing though that "the key medicine all these patients need is peace and ceasefire."