UN: 1 in 3 expectant mothers in Gaza faces high-risk pregnancy amid medical shortages

The UN warned Monday that the Gaza Strip faces a growing maternal health crisis alongside critical shortages of fuel and medical supplies as Israeli authorities continue to block humanitarian access.

"The UN Population Fund says pregnant mothers are living on a fraction of the food they need to survive," UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told a news conference, noting that "a growing number of mothers suffer from malnutrition-and one in three expectant mothers experiences a high-risk pregnancy at a time when half of essential maternal health medicines are no longer in stock."

On fuel stocks, Haq stressed that they have reached "critically low levels," especially diesel in southern Gaza, essential for operating both water and medical equipment.

"Today, Israeli authorities once again denied an attempt to coordinate the collection of some fuel supplies from Rafah," Haq said.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), he warned that "humanitarian, communications and banking activities may halt very soon unless the supply of fuel resumes immediately or the UN is enabled by the Israeli authorities to retrieve available stocks from areas inside Gaza that require coordination."

Haq further reported that Israeli authorities denied seven out of 17 UN coordination requests on Monday, including missions "as critical as trucking water and removing solid waste."

For more than 100 days, Israel has banned entry of shelter materials, even as displacement and overcrowding increase shelter needs, he stressed.

These materials "require frequent replenishment, as they wear out quickly or may be left behind when people are forced into renewed displacement," Haq said.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing over 55,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.