An aid mission to two hospitals in northern Gaza found horrifying scenes of children dying of starvation, amid dire shortages of food, fuel and medicines, the World Health Organization said Monday.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency’s visits over the weekend to the Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals “were the first since early October 2023 despite our efforts to gain more regular access to the north of Gaza”.

The findings were “grim”, he said on X, adding that “the situation at Al-Awda was particularly appalling, as one of the buildings is destroyed”.

The Kamal Adwan hospital, the only paediatrics hospital in northern Gaza, was overwhelmed with patients, he said.

“The lack of food resulted in the deaths of 10 children,” Tedros said.

In all, the Gaza health ministry has said at least 16 children have died of malnutrition in aid-deprived northern Gaza.

The United Nations warned last week that famine in the Gaza Strip was “almost inevitable” because of the war that has been raging in the Palestinian territory since Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack inside Israel on October 7.

That attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

It also saw the Hamas abduct 250 hostages, of whom 130 remain in captivity, including 31 presumed dead, according to Israel.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against the Palestinian territory has killed more than 30,500 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.