“It’s often that a child is extremely malnourished, and then they get sick and that virus is ultimately what causes that death,” said Heather Stobaugh, a malnutrition expert at Action Against Hunger, an aid group. “But they would not have died if they were not malnourished.” While cautioning that it was difficult to say what had happened without more information, Dr. Stobaugh said that malnutrition in pregnant mothers and the lack of formula could easily have led to the deaths of infants, who are the most vulnerable to extreme malnutrition.

Only an immediate stop to the fighting, a massive increase in humanitarian assistance and the return of basic services can keep the number of deaths caused by hunger and disease from eclipsing the already shocking numbers of those killed in the war to date.

"The civilian population is increasingly desperate. We have received reports of people eating animal food, including hay, straw and other feed fit for cattle, goats and sheep," Vincent Stehli, Action Against Hunger's director of operations, said in a statement.

The Humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger said several other countries also have "very concerning levels of hunger". These include Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

"It's a technical term that sort of encapsulates a series of conditions," said Tobias Stillman, Action Against Hunger's director of technical services and innovation. "So very significant food insecurity, meaning people don't have sufficient food to support their physiological need ... so they are both experiencing hunger and physiologically in many cases, compensating for the lack of food."

“The resolution has not been a game changer, but it has raised the political profile of hunger,” said Michelle Brown, associate director of advocacy at Action Against Hunger.

Action Against Hunger calls for immediate ceasefire as 80% of Gaza faces dire famine conditions, with humanitarian efforts hampered by bombardment and blockade.

The risk of famine in Gaza is “imminent” according to one new assessment published Monday March 18 by the Integrated Food Security Classification Framework (IPC), a partnership between international agencies (World Food Program, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – FAO –, Unicef, World Bank, etc.) and non-governmental organizations (Action Against Hunger, Care, Oxfam, etc.), responsible for assessing the most acute food crises.

The Gaza Strip faces unprecedented disease outbreaks this summer caused by piles of uncollected waste rotting in the heat, fuelling further misery for residents already suffering from food shortages, according to Action Against Hunger.

“The combination of incessant shelling, shortages of food, water, fuel, and the inability of humanitarian agencies to operate in Gaza has caused this desperate situation,” said Chiara Saccardi, Regional Head of Action Against Hunger in the Middle East via a statement on December 21st.