At least 66 children have died of malnutrition in the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza amid the ongoing Israeli blockade and attacks, Gaza's state media office said.

They say the main reason for the crisis is the denial of access to milk, nutritious food and other humanitarian aid, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday (June 29).

"Israel's blockade is a war crime. It is a cold-blooded, planned infanticide, where death is gradually ensured by starvation," the office said in a statement on Saturday.

They also said, “This ongoing crime against the children of Gaza and the shameful silence of the international community are both signs of extreme disregard for humanity.”

Gaza authorities have blamed not only Israel but also its Western allies — particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany — for the humanitarian disaster, while calling on the United Nations to immediately open all border crossings into Gaza.

Earlier, the UN agency working to protect children, UNICEF, warned that the number of children suffering from malnutrition in Gaza was increasing at an alarming rate. In May of this year, at least 5,119 children aged 6 months to 5 years were admitted due to acute malnutrition.

And that's an increase of about 50 percent compared to last April and 150 percent compared to February. Originally, a temporary ceasefire was in effect in February and some aid entered Gaza.

“In just 150 days from January to the end of May, 16,736 children – an average of 112 children a day – received treatment for malnutrition,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Every one of these cases was preventable. Food, water, nutrition – everything is blocked at the border. These deaths are the result of human-made decisions.”

He stressed that Israel must immediately allow life-saving aid to enter through all borders.

Meanwhile, Israel killed at least 60 Palestinians in attacks on various areas of Gaza on Saturday, including 20 in the Tufah area of ​​Gaza City. Two consecutive airstrikes in the area destroyed several residential buildings. Nine children were among the dead.

"We were sitting quietly, when suddenly we got a call from an unknown number — telling us to evacuate the entire block. This is the residential area of ​​the Al-Nakhala family. Now look, the entire area is wiped out," said Mahmoud Al-Nakhala, a local resident.

He expressed his anger and said, "The world is watching everything — the death of children, the destruction — yet it is silent. We can't understand how such inhumanity is possible."