logo
Baby Boy Starves to Death in Gaza as Hunger Spreads, Medics Say

Baby Boy Starves to Death in Gaza as Hunger Spreads, Medics Say

Asharq Al-Awsat5 days ago
Six-week-old Yousef's lifeless body lay limp on a hospital table in Gaza City, his skin stretched over protruding ribs and a bandage where a drip had been inserted into his tiny arm. Doctors said the cause of death was starvation.
He was among 15 people to starve to death in the last 24 hours in Gaza, according to doctors who say a wave of hunger that has loomed over the enclave for months is now finally crashing down.
Yousef's family couldn't find baby formula to feed him, said his uncle, Adham al-Safadi.
"You can't get milk anywhere, and if you do find any it's $100 for a tub," he said, looking at his dead nephew.
Three of the other Palestinians who died of hunger over the last day were also children, including 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, who died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in airstrikes, shelling and shooting since launching their assault on Gaza in response to attacks on Israel by the Hamas group that killed 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages in October 2023.
For the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of hunger.
Gaza has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May with new measures it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to armed groups.
At least 101 people are known to have died of hunger during the conflict, according to Palestinian officials, including 80 children, most of them in just the last few weeks.
Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, denies that it is responsible for shortages of food. Israel's military said that it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza as a matter of utmost importance", and works to facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community.
It has blamed the United Nations for failing to protect aid it says is stolen by Hamas and other gunmen. The fighters deny stealing it.
More than 800 people have been killed in recent weeks trying to reach food, mostly in mass shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near distribution centers of a new, US-backed aid organization. The United Nations has rejected this system as inherently unsafe, and a violation of humanitarian neutrality principles needed to ensure that distribution succeeds.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the situation for the 2.3 million residents of the Palestinian enclave a "horror show".
"We are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles," Guterres told the UN Security Council. "That system is being denied the conditions to function."
The Norwegian Refugee Council, which supported hundreds of thousands of Gazans in the first year of the war, said its aid stocks were now depleted and some of its own staff were starving.
"Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left," its director Jan Egeland told Reuters. "Israel is not yielding. They just want to paralyze our work," he said.
The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday that its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that images of civilians killed during the distribution of aid were "unbearable" and urged Israel to deliver on pledges to improve the situation.
FOOD AND MEDICINE SHORTAGES
On Tuesday, men and boys lugged sacks of flour past destroyed buildings and tarpaulins in Gaza City, grabbing what food they could from aid warehouses.
"We haven't eaten for five days," said Mohammed Jundia.
Israeli military statistics showed on Tuesday that an average of 146 trucks of aid per day had entered Gaza over the course of the war. The United States has said a minimum of 600 trucks per day are needed to feed Gaza's population.
"Hospitals are already overwhelmed by the number of casualties from gunfire. They can't provide much more help for hunger-related symptoms because of food and medicine shortages," said Khalil al-Deqran, a spokesperson for the health ministry.
Deqran said some 600,000 people were suffering from malnutrition, including at least 60,000 pregnant women. Symptoms among those going hungry include dehydration and anaemia, he said.
Baby formula in particular is in critically short supply, according to aid groups, doctors and residents.
The health ministry said at least 72 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes in the past 24 hours, including 16 people living in tents in Gaza City. The Israeli military said it wasn't aware of any incident or artillery in the area at that time.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Aid Trucks Start Entering Gaza from Egypt Amid Humanitarian Catastrophe
Aid Trucks Start Entering Gaza from Egypt Amid Humanitarian Catastrophe

Leaders

time5 hours ago

  • Leaders

Aid Trucks Start Entering Gaza from Egypt Amid Humanitarian Catastrophe

After several months of international pressure and increasing warnings from relief agencies about Israel's starvation of Palestinians, aid trucks began moving toward Gaza from Egypt, according to Reuters. Israel announced on Saturday that it started aid airdrops to Gaza and is currently taking several other steps to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian enclave. The Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV has released several photos for dozens of trucks carrying tons of humanitarian aid and moving toward the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Gaza. To ensure the safe movement of United Nations convoys carrying aid to Gaza, the Israeli military said that there would be 'humanitarian corridors.' Moreover, the densely populated areas would have 'humanitarian pauses.' Israel's Foreign Ministry said the military would 'apply a 'humanitarian pause' in civilian centers and in humanitarian corridors' on Sunday morning. Israel's announcement on airdrops came after indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas in Doha collapsed without a deal in sight. Israel Accuses UN of Failure Crucially, Israel claimed it has allowed enough food into Gaza and accused the United Nations of failing to distribute it properly. On the contrary, the UN says it is operating as effectively as possible under the constraints imposed by Israeli restrictions. 'The IDF emphasizes that there is no starvation in the Gaza Strip; this is a false campaign promoted by Hamas,' the Israeli military said in its Saturday statement. Dozens of Gazans including children have lost their soles due to malnutrition throughout the 21 months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Since the beginning of Hamas-Israel War in Gaza in 2023, the Israeli strikes have killed more than 59,000 Palestinians wounded more than 142,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Related Topics: Israel Announces 'Tactical Pauses' across 3 Parts in Gaza amid Starvation Crisis UK to Hold Urgent Talks with France, Germany over Gaza War Canada Condemns Israel over Gaza's 'Humanitarian Disaster' Short link : Post Views: 7

WHO says malnutrition reaching ‘alarming levels' in Gaza
WHO says malnutrition reaching ‘alarming levels' in Gaza

Al Arabiya

time6 hours ago

  • Al Arabiya

WHO says malnutrition reaching ‘alarming levels' in Gaza

Malnutrition rates are reaching 'alarming levels' in the Gaza Strip, the World Health Organization warned Sunday, saying the 'deliberate blocking' of aid was entirely preventable and had cost many lives. 'Malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July,' the WHO said in a statement, adding: 'Most of these people were declared dead on arrival at health facilities or died shortly after, their bodies showing clear signs of severe wasting.'

WHO Warns Gaza Nears Starvation as Malnutrition Spikes
WHO Warns Gaza Nears Starvation as Malnutrition Spikes

Asharq Al-Awsat

time18 hours ago

  • Asharq Al-Awsat

WHO Warns Gaza Nears Starvation as Malnutrition Spikes

The head of the World Health Organization warned on Wednesday that over 2 million people in Gaza face starvation, citing a 'deadly surge' in malnutrition and related diseases. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said acute malnutrition centers in Gaza are full of patients, but lack adequate supplies. He said that rates of acute malnutrition exceed 10% and that among pregnant and breastfeeding women, more than 20% are malnourished, often severely. 'The hunger crisis is being accelerated by the collapse of aid pipelines,' Tedros said, adding that 95% of households in Gaza face severe water shortages. Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative for Occupied Palestinian Territories, said there were more than 30,000 children under 5 with acute malnutrition in Gaza so far this year, and that there had been 21 deaths. He noted that many of the UN health agency's supplies were destroyed after its main warehouse was destroyed during attacks in Deir al-Balah on Sunday. Meanwhile, Israel rejected a Gaza starvation warning from rights groups. Israel's Foreign Ministry accused the groups of 'echoing Hamas' propaganda.' It said it has allowed around 4,500 aid trucks to enter Gaza since lifting a complete blockade in May, and that more than 700 are waiting to be picked up and distributed by the United Nations. That's an average of around 70 trucks a day, the lowest rate of the war and far below the 500-600 trucks a day the UN says are needed, and which entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year. The UN says it has struggled to deliver aid inside Gaza because of Israeli military restrictions, ongoing fighting, and a breakdown of law and order. In the letter issued Wednesday, 115 human rights and charity groups said they were watching their own colleagues, as well as the Palestinians they serve, 'waste away.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store