DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Aid groups are raising new alarm over Israel’s blockade of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where it has barred entry of all food and other goods for more than six weeks. Thousands of children have become malnourished, and most people are barely eating one meal a day as stocks dwindle, the United Nations says.
The warning came as Israeli strikes overnight and into Thursday killed at least 27 people, including at least six women and 15 children.
The humanitarian aid system in Gaza “is facing total collapse,’’ the heads of 12 independent aid organizations warned in a statement. They said many groups have shut down operations because Israel’s resumed bombardment the past month has made it too dangerous.
No food, fuel, medicine, or any other supplies have entered Gaza since Israel imposed its blockade on March 2. It renewed its bombardment on March 18, breaking a cease-fire, and seized large parts of the territory, saying it aims to push Hamas to release more hostages. Hundreds have been killed, and more than 400,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee their shelters in the latest of multiple displacements.
A strike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed a family of 10, including five children, four women, and a man, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Strikes in northern Gaza killed two other couples with nine children, according to the Indonesian Hospital.
A later strike hit a school sheltering displaced people in the northern district of Jabaliya, killing three people and a child. The blast left walls in rubble and classrooms strewn with debris, charred mattresses, and scattered cans of food.
The Israeli military strikes homes, shelters, and public areas daily, saying it is targeting Hamas militants, and blames militants for civilian deaths because they operate there. It says it tries to limit civilian casualties. There was no immediate comment on the latest strikes.
The UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said almost all of Gaza’s more than 2 million people now rely on charity kitchens, which can prepare only 1 million meals a day. The meals mainly consist of rice or pasta with no fresh vegetables or meat.
Other food distribution programs have shut down due to a lack of supplies, and the United Nations and other aid groups have been sending their remaining stocks to the charity kitchens.
In markets — the only other place to find food in Gaza — prices are spiraling and shortages are widespread, with fresh foods nearly nonexistent. As a result, humanitarian aid is the primary food source for 80 percent of the population, the World Food Program said in its monthly report for April.
“The Gaza Strip is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months’’ since the war began, OCHA said.
“Kids are eating less than a meal a day and struggling to find their next meal,’’ said Bushra Khalil, policy head at Oxfam. “Everyone is purely eating canned food. … Malnutrition and pockets of famine are definitely occurring in Gaza.’’
Hani Almadhoun, cofounder of Gaza Soup Kitchen, said his kitchen has food for about three more weeks. Already, he said, up to one in five of those who come to his kitchen for food leave empty-handed.
Water is also growing scarce, with Palestinians standing in long lines to fill jerry cans from trucks. Omar Shatat, an official with a local water utility, said people are down to six or seven liters per day, well below the UN estimate for basic needs.
In March, more than 3,600 children were newly admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition, up from around 2,000 the month before, according to OCHA, which said “the rapid deterioration of the nutrition situation is already visible.’’
Aid groups are also less able to treat malnourished children because of Israel’s airstrikes and ground operations. Aid workers could only reach 22,300 children under 5 with nutrient supplements in March, down 70 percent from the month before. Only around 100 of the original 173 treatment sites still function, OCHA said.
“Humanitarians have been forced to watch people suffer and die while carrying the impossible burden of providing relief with depleted supplies, all while facing the same life-threatening conditions themselves,’’ said Amande Bazerolle, emergency coordinator in Gaza for Doctors Without Borders.
A survey of 47 aid groups found that 95 percent of them have reduced or entirely halted operations, mainly because bombardment made it too dangerous, according to the joint statement by the heads of humanitarian organizations, which included the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Save the Children, CARE, and Medical Aid for Palestinians.