Palestinian with special needs dies from malnutrition in Gaza
The hospital staff said the man succumbed to prolonged hunger and lack of access to adequate care, highlighting the worsening humanitarian disaster under Israel's ongoing siege.
Health officials have repeatedly warned that food insecurity is pushing Gaza's most vulnerable—especially those with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and children—towards starvation.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
4 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Israeli forces kill over 1,000 aid-seekers in Gaza since May: UN
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in the Gaza Strip, mostly near aid sites run by an American contractor, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday. More than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The UN and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes killed 25 people across Gaza, according to local health officials. Desperation is mounting in the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts say is at risk of famine because of Israel's blockade and nearly two-year offensive. A breakdown of law and order has led to widespread looting and contributed to chaos and violence around aid deliveries. Men walk carrying sacks of flour in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. AFP Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid - without providing evidence of widespread diversion - and blames UN agencies for failing to deliver food it has allowed in. The military says it has only fired warning shots near aid sites. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor, rejected what it said were "false and exaggerated statistics' from the United Nations. The Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, said Tuesday that 101 people, including 80 children, have died in recent days from starvation. The deaths could not be independently verified, but UN officials and major international aid groups say the conditions for starvation exist in Gaza. During hunger crises, people can die from malnutrition or from common illnesses or injuries that the body is not strong enough to fight. Israel eased a 2½-month blockade in May, allowing a trickle of aid in through the longstanding UN-run system and the newly created GHF. Aid groups say it's not nearly enough. Dozens of Palestinians lined up Tuesday outside a charity kitchen in Gaza City, hoping for a bowl of watery tomato soup. The lucky ones got small chunks of eggplant. As supplies ran out, people holding pots pushed and shoved to get to the front. Smoke rises after an explosion in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, on Tuesday. Reuters Nadia Mdoukh, a pregnant woman who was displaced from her home and lives in a tent with her husband and three children, said she worries about being shoved or trampled on, and about heat stroke as daytime temperatures hover above 90 F (32 C). "I do it for my children," she said. "This is famine - there is no bread or flour.' The UN World Food Program says Gaza's hunger crisis has reached "new and astonishing levels of desperation.' Ross Smith, the agency's director for emergencies, told reporters Monday that nearly 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and a third of Gaza's population is going without food for multiple days in a row. MedGlobal, a charity working in Gaza, said five children as young as 3 months had died from starvation in the past three days. "This is a deliberate and human-made disaster," said Joseph Belliveau, its executive director. "Those children died because there is not enough food in Gaza and not enough medicines, including IV fluids and therapeutic formula, to revive them.' Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians, including aid seekers, killed in Israeli attacks, according to medics, at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, on Tuesday. Reuters The charity said food is in such short supply that its own staff members suffer dizziness and headaches. Of the 1,054 people killed while trying to get food since late May, 766 were killed while heading to sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to the UN human rights office. The others were killed when gunfire erupted around UN convoys or aid sites. Thameen al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN rights office, says its figures come from "multiple reliable sources on the ground,' including medics, humanitarian and human rights organizations. He said the numbers were still being verified according to the office's strict methodology. Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces regularly fire toward crowds of thousands of people heading to the GHF sites. The military says it has only fired warning shots, and GHF says its armed contractors have only fired into the air on a few occasions to try to prevent stampedes. A joint statement from 28 Western-aligned countries on Monday condemned the "the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians.' Demonstrators hold signs, during a protest demanding an end to the war in Gaza and the release of all hostages, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday. Reuters "The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,' read the statement, which was signed by the United Kingdom, France and other countries friendly to Israel. "The Israeli government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable.' Israel and the United States rejected the statement, blaming Hamas for prolonging the war by not accepting Israeli terms for a ceasefire and the release of hostages abducted in the fighter-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the fighting. Hamas has said it will release the remaining hostages only in return for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Israel says it will keep fighting until Hamas has been defeated or disarmed. Israeli strikes killed at least 25 people Tuesday across Gaza, according to local health officials. One strike hit tents sheltering displaced people in the built-up seaside Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, killing at least 12 people, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties. The Israeli military said that it wasn't aware of such a strike by its forces. Israeli activists gather at HaBima Square for a protest march towards the Israeli defence ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday denouncing the ongoing food shortage and forced displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. AFP The dead included three women and three children, the hospital director, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, told The Associated Press. Thirty-eight other Palestinians were wounded, he said. An overnight strike that hit crowds of Palestinians waiting for aid trucks in Gaza City killed eight, hospitals said. At least 118 were wounded, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. "A bag of flour covered in blood and death," said Mohammed Issam, who was in the crowd and said some people were run over by trucks in the chaos. "How long will this humiliation continue?' The Israeli military had no immediate comment on that strike. Israel blames the deaths of Palestinian civilians on Hamas, because the fighters operate in densely populated areas. Israel renewed its offensive in March with a surprise bombardment after ending an earlier ceasefire. Talks on another truce have dragged on for weeks despite pressure from US President Donald Trump. Hamas-led fighters abducted 251 people in the Oct. 7 attack, and killed around 1,200 people. Fewer than half of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive. Associated Press
Gulf Today
6 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 21 more Palestinians
Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 21 people late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday. More than half of those killed were women and children, health authorities said. More than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israel-Hamas war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. Its count doesn't distinguish between fighters and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The UN and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. Desperation is mounting in the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts say is at risk of famine because of Israel's blockade and nearly two-year offensive. A breakdown of law and order has led to widespread looting and contributed to chaos and violence around aid deliveries. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in the Gaza Strip, mostly near aid sites run by an American contractor, the UN human rights office said Tuesday. Debris lies at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, in Gaza City, on Wednesday. Reuters More than 100 human rights groups and charities signed a letter published Wednesday demanding more aid for Gaza and warning of grim conditions causing starvation. The Israeli military said in a statement Wednesday that forces were operating in Gaza City, as well as in northern Gaza. It said without elaborating that in Jabaliya, an area hard-hit in multiple rounds of fighting, an air strike killed "a number of' Hamas fighters. Troops struck roughly 120 targets throughout Gaza over the past day, including fighter cells, tunnels and booby-trapped structures, among others, the military said. One Israeli strike hit a house Tuesday in the northwestern side of Gaza City, killing at least 12 people, according to the Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties. The dead included six children and two women, according to the Health Ministry's casualty list. Another strike hit an apartment in the Tal al-Hawa area in northern Gaza, killing at least six people. Among the dead were three children and two women, including one who was pregnant. Eight others were wounded, the ministry said. A third strike hit a tent in the Naser neighbourhood in Gaza City late Tuesday and killed three children, Shifa Hospital said. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. It blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the Palestinian group Hamas operate from populated areas. Palestinians inspect the damage, including a destroyed ambulance, around a house hit in an Israeli strike a day earlier in western Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. AFP In the letter issued Wednesday by 109 human rights and charity groups, they warned of a dire situation pushing more people toward starvation. They said they were watching their own colleagues, as well as the Palestinians they serve, "waste away.' The letter slammed Israel for what it said were restrictions on aid into the war-ravaged territory. It lamented "massacres' at food distribution points, which have seen chaos and violence in recent weeks as desperation has risen. "The government of Israel's restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death,' the letter said. The letter called for aid to be scaled up as well as for a ceasefire. ` Israel says that it has allowed the entry of thousands of trucks since May and blames aid groups for not consistently delivering goods. Associated Press
Middle East Eye
11 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Children will die quickly amid 'genocidal starvation' in Gaza, warns top famine expert
A renowned expert on famine, Professor Alex de Waal, has accused Israel of 'genocidal starvation' of Palestinians in Gaza with its continued deadly siege on the enclave. At least 101 Palestinians, including 80 children, have died of starvation since Israel's blockade resumed in March, including 15 who died of malnutrition on Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid at distribution sites run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in place since May and manned by Israeli soldiers and US security contractors. De Waal told MEE's live show on Tuesday that the UN is not in a position to declare famine due to Israel's obstruction of access to humanitarians and investigators to gauge the extent of hunger. However, he said, 'it is actually relatively straightforward if you are perpetrating a famine to shut out access to essential information and then say no one has declared famine'. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'Concealment of famine is an instrument of those who perpetrate it,' he added. De Waal said that famine is unfolding in Gaza in 'a wholly predicted manner'. De Waal is executive director of the World Peace Foundation, affiliated with the Fletcher School of Global Affairs at Tufts University, and the author of Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine. He explained that a healthy adult will take 60 to 80 days of total deprivation of food to die of starvation. With semi-starvation, it would take a lot longer. 'But children will perish much more quickly. Their small bodies waste away very, very fast.' What makes children more vulnerable is the interaction between malnutrition and infection. 'Many children get diarrheal infections or malnutrition itself, which means that they cannot process or digest food properly. It's that dehydration that follows, and the combined effect of malnutrition and disease that carries most of them away.' Therefore, De Waal pointed out that the figures on deaths from starvation may be an undercount compared to the full scale of deaths associated with famine. The body of a starved person consumes its own reserves of fat, then its own organs, he explained. Mentally, starvation may cause hallucinations and paranoia. 'Engineered starvation' De Waal said that Israeli actions in Gaza stand out in comparison to other famine situations historically. 'Israeli actions stand out because there is no other case in modern history in which you have such minutely, precisely engineered starvation within an hour's drive, or even less than an hour's drive, of a fully capable international humanitarian operation ready to roll,' he told MEE. 'If Israel wanted every child in Gaza to have breakfast tomorrow, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could say so, and it would happen' - Alex de Waal 'If Israel wanted every child in Gaza to have breakfast tomorrow, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could say so, and it would happen. 'That is not the case in other terrible famines, such as in Sudan today. The precision, the minute control that Israel has over this is something without precedent in modern times.' Officials from the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), the largest humanitarian provider in Gaza, told MEE they have had 6,000 trucks loaded with food and medical supplies in Egypt and Jordan for four and a half months, but Israel has yet to let them in. Prior to the current siege, aid groups were able to bring in around 600 trucks per day - the minimum amount of aid humanitarian organisations say is needed for Gaza's population, Unrwa head Philippe Lazzarini told MEE in May. Unrwa's communications director, Julitte Touma, told MEE on Tuesday that the agency has been receiving 'S.O.S messages' from Palestinians, including its own staff, pleading for any food for them and their children. Some staff members have fainted on duty because of hunger, Touma said. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. The International Court of Justice, the UN's principal judicial organ, issued a binding order on 28 March 2024 ordering Israel to take all necessary measures to ensure the unimpeded provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza, in cooperation with the UN. But Israel has largely ignored the order. De Waal noted that even the Israeli judge on the court, Justice Aharon Barak, voted in favour of this order, making it unanimous. AFP warns Gaza journalists risk starving to death amid ongoing Israeli siege Read More » The court also ruled that Israel's duty to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid was part of its obligation under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide. Yet, 16 months since the ICJ ruling, Israel and its international partners have not fulfilled this obligation, said de Waal. 'The Genocide Convention has an obligation to prevent and to punish genocide. So the prevention aspect cannot wait until we have counted the graves of all those children who have died of starvation. 'And what we are seeing unfolding is exactly what genocidal starvation consists of. 'It is not only the suffering and death of individuals but perhaps more importantly it is that social trauma. It is that shame. It is that degradation. It is that feeling of people being reduced to the state of animals, being forced to violate profound social taboos - scavenging for food in piles of garbage, etc. This is what genocide looks like at the moment.'
