About 90 percent of children in Gaza lack nutrition and face “severe” threats to their “survival, growth and development”, according to the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF.

A report, published by UNICEF on Thursday, laid bare the “catastrophic impact” of Israel’s offensive on the enclave, which has caused the “collapse” of food and health systems, finding that one in 10 children survived on “two or fewer food groups per day” between December last year and April this year.

Describing “an appalling escalation in nutrition deprivation”, the report also highlighted that 65 percent of children were fed diets with “only one or no food groups” in February, a sixfold increase from the first half of December last year.

Israel says it places no limit on humanitarian supplies for civilians in Gaza and has blamed the United Nations for slow deliveries, saying its operations are inefficient.

But with pockets of famine emerging in Gaza, with some children dying from malnutrition and dehydration, even Israel’s staunchest allies have increased pressure on it to do more to let in food.

The UNICEF report said that military action, which has destroyed food systems while imposing “severe restrictions on the import of commercial goods and humanitarian supplies”, had “deprived millions of the food, water and fuel they need”.