The Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday that confirmed deaths from famine and malnutrition have risen to 269, among them 112 children, underscoring the deepening humanitarian emergency after more than 10 months of war and blockade. UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini warned that child malnutrition has tripled since March, with nearly one in every three children in Gaza City now undernourished. "What is unfolding in Gaza is not merely hunger but a full-scale famine," UNRWA reiterated, calling the crisis man-made and preventable. Aid officials say relief efforts remain stymied by Israeli restrictions. A UNRWA spokesperson said Israel is refusing to let UN bodies manage distribution and is directing convoys along unsafe routes that prevent them from reaching UN warehouses. Five international aid organisations told Reuters that vital shelter materials are still being held up by Israeli bureaucratic hurdles. Against that backdrop, an Emirati convoy of 19 trucks carrying 355 tonnes of food and shelter goods crossed the Rafah crossing early Wednesday en route to Kerem Shalom, but agencies cautioned that deliveries of this scale fall far short of what is needed. The wider impact of the war is visible across the enclave, where UN assessments find 97 percent of schools damaged and orphaned children marking graduations in makeshift ceremonies.