&w=3840&q=100)
‘1 in 5 children in Gaza City is malnourished': Where's the food aid?
A little infant's body rests on the table at Gaza City's Al Shifa hospital. As hospital staff remove the clothing off the infant's body what they see is appalling — protruding ribs and hollow stomach.
But the tiny toddler isn't a one-off case. Extreme hunger is resulting in malnutrition and deaths in the besieged enclave with the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) saying that one in five children in Gaza City is malnourished and cases are increasing every day.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
In a statement issued on Thursday, Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini cited a colleague telling him: 'People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses.'
But why is this happening? Why are all 2.1 million people in Gaza are now food insecure?
GHF: Few sites and deadly violence
Israel's chosen aid distributor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), began operations on May 26 after a more than two-month total aid blockade. Now the main channel for distributing food to Gaza, GHF has faced chaos and deadly violence at its few distribution points.
The United Nations and aid groups have refused to work with GHF, saying it was created to serve Israeli military interests. 'They are not a humanitarian organisation… You don't deliver humanitarian aid in areas that have been completely flattened and militarised,' said Arwa Damon, founder of INARA, a US-based NGO offering medical and mental health support to children.
She noted the GHF's site locations — along two military corridors in southern and central Gaza — rather than being spread out across the territory.
Displaced Palestinians receive donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip. AP
Today, there are only four GHF sites in Gaza — Tal al-Sultan, Saudi neighbourhood, Khan Younis and Wadi Gaza. These are open only for eight minutes at a time and in June, the average for the Saudi site was 11 minutes. This has led to many to allege that system is dangerous by design. The Unrwa chief, Philippe Lazzarini, even said 'the so-called mechanism … is a death trap costing more lives than it saves.'
In fact, according to UN figures, Israeli forces have killed nearly 900 desperate and hungry Gazans near GHF sites until July 13.
Israel has rejected calls to restore the UN-led system, citing concerns that Hamas looted trucks and resold aid meant to be distributed free of charge.
Aid organisations sidelined
Another reason for the dire conditions in Gaza according to international aid groups is Israel itself. They note that vast quantities of food are stockpiled outside Gaza but await clearance from the Israeli military.
Furthermore, inside Gaza, coordination with the military is also essential, as fighting and air strikes rage on. Damon accuses Israel of preventing aid delivery by refusing to coordinate with NGOs to grant safe passage through combat zones.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
'Getting that coordination approved is incredibly challenging,' she told AFP. 'Not to mention Israel's lack of willingness to provide humanitarian organisations with a safe route to be able to ensure a secure pickup.'
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Wednesday it had 'thousands of trucks in neighbouring countries waiting to enter Gaza — banned by Israeli authorities from entering since March'.
Displaced Palestinian mother Samah Matar holds her malnourished son Youssef, who suffers from cerebral palsy, at a school where they shelter amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City. Reuters
Israel blames UN
However, the Jewish nation denies limiting the number of humanitarian trucks into Gaza. On Thursday, it even posted footage online of hundreds of trucks with aid 'sitting idle inside Gaza'.
Moreover, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar told Politico that Israel had opened up more crossing points and was allowing more aid to enter Gaza under a deal struck with the European Union.
He added that the problem was that the UN was failing to distribute more than 900 truckloads of aid parked in a fenced-off area near the Kerem Shalom crossing point in the Gaza Strip. 'The problem is the UN is not distributing [aid],' said Sa'ar. 'There are more than 900 trucks waiting … inside Gaza Strip, and they are just not distributing them to the people in Gaza.'
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
UN agencies and international NGOs reject Israeli claims that they lack the capacity to distribute food. They note that aid was distributed effectively in the past, including during the last ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war that ended in March.
A father clings to the body of his infant who died of starvation according to health officials, in Gaza City. Reuters
'There's just no food'
For people in Gaza, this has resulted in a nightmare. The few doctors inside Gaza say the mounting hunger crisis is horrific is hitting women and children the hardest. As American surgeon Ambereen Sleemi told NBC News that the neonatal intensive care unit was 'full of babies that are malnourished that have struggled to get formula or get feeding.'
She added that in many cases the lack of nutrition had led to other health complications, including a surge in infection rates.
Elidalis Burgos, an American critical care nurse volunteering in Gaza, further told NBC News that she had witnessed 'an entire population' suffering from starvation because of the Israeli blockade. 'There's just no food,' said Burgos, who is working at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. 'There is just nothing getting in, hasn't been getting in for months.'
Walaa Fathi, a resident of Gaza who is eight months pregnant, wailed about the situation, saying that Gazans were 'experiencing a catastrophe and a famine that no one could have imagined'.
'I hope that my baby stays in my womb and I don't have to give birth in these difficult circumstances,' she was quoted as telling the BBC from Deir al-Balah.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
With inputs from AFP and agencies
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
18 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Hungry treating the hungry': Gaza's doctors are collapsing as famine reaches hospitals
Inside Gaza's Nasser Hospital, Dr Mohammad Saqer was midway through a shift when his vision blurred and his knees buckled. He hadn't eaten in nearly a day. 'My fellow doctors caught me before I collapsed,' he told CNN. 'They gave me IV fluids and sugar.' The only food around? A foreign doctor's small carton of juice. That was all it took to bring him back — a reminder of just how little sustains Gaza's doctors now. Most are surviving on one plate of rice a day, even as they labour through 24-hour shifts surrounded by patients suffering from the same thing: hunger. 'We are physically drained,' Saqer said. 'The hungry treating the hungry. The weak treating the weak.' This is not just a crisis behind hospital doors. It's a collapse — one unfolding in plain sight, one that is hollowing out Gaza's medical staff even as they fight to keep the dying alive. In Nasser's paediatric wing, entire rows of babies lie quietly in cribs, their tiny bodies reduced to bone and skin. 'The bones in their faces, spines, and ribcages appear to be protruding,' CNN reported. 'Their limbs resemble limp noodles.' Formula is scarce. Breastfeeding mothers can't produce milk without food. 'She needs fruits. She needs vegetables,' said Yasmin Abu Sultan, trying to feed her baby Mona through a syringe. 'But there's nothing.' At Al-Tahrir Hospital, Dr Ahmad Al-Farra said the situation is so dire, staff are starting to mentally unravel. 'Most of them are now suffering from depression, general weakness, inability to concentrate, and memory loss,' he said. 'They've lost their passion for life.' It's the kind of crisis that distorts a child's sense of the world. Dr Al-Farra recounted the moment he heard a little girl, too young to understand war, whisper to her mother after learning potassium comes from bananas — a fruit long gone from Gaza shelves. 'The girl asked her mother if there were bananas in paradise and she answered yes. The girl said 'then let's become martyrs so I can eat bananas and get better,'' Dr Al-Farra recalled. 'Can you imagine a child wishing for death just to get food?' Outside the hospital, the desperation is no different. In Gaza City, Hidaya Al Mtawwaq watches her three-year-old son wither. Mohammad weighs just six kilograms. 'He can't even stand on his feet,' she told CNN. 'All because of the famine.' Her husband is dead. She can barely afford a bottle of milk. 'I'm truly exhausted,' she said. 'Exhausted, exhausted.' More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access aid since May, according to the UN. Aid convoys are still being blocked or looted. Food prices are astronomical: flour now costs $92 (Rs 7,953.93) for just two kilograms, Dr Saqer said. The UN says every one of Gaza's 2.1 million people is now food insecure. Gaza's Health Ministry estimates 900,000 children are going hungry. In just two weeks, Doctors Without Borders has seen severe malnutrition in children under five triple. In northern Gaza, Al-Ahli Al-Arabi Hospital director Dr Fadel Naim said some of his colleagues have collapsed while operating. 'If we have one meal a day, we are lucky,' he told CNN. 'Most people are working 24/7. Their energy is gone.' Doctors say the hunger is no accident. 'As peaceful Palestinian people, we are being collectively punished,' Dr Naim said. 'President Trump must take a strong stance.' Meanwhile, Israel denies accusations that it is restricting aid, despite widespread warnings from the UN, WHO, and other agencies that the conditions amount to man-made famine. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation, has called it 'mass starvation.' Despite the exhaustion, Dr Saqer, who hasn't seen his family in three months, says he will not abandon his duty. 'This profession is rooted in humanity,' he told CNN. 'And under no circumstances can we abandon our duty or the oath we took.'
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
Keir Starmer Outlines UK's Efforts For Gaza Aid Airdrops, Child Evacuations
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday spoke to his French and German counterparts and outlined UK plans to get aid to people in Gaza and evacuate sick and injured children, his office said. "The prime minister set out how the UK will also be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance," a statement said. In a phone conversation, Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza "which they agreed is appalling". "They all agreed it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace," according to a readout released by Downing Street. "They discussed their intention to work closely together on a plan.... which would pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region. They agreed that once this plan was worked up, they would seek to bring in other key partners, including in the region, to advance it," it added. The discussion comes a day after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed the international community for turning a blind eye to widespread starvation in the Gaza Strip, calling it a "moral crisis that challenges the global conscience". Aid groups have warned of surging cases of starvation, particularly among children, in war-ravaged Gaza, which Israel placed under an aid blockade in March amid its ongoing war with Hamas. That blockade was partially eased two months later. The trickle of aid since then has been controlled by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
4 hours ago
- First Post
120 dead as truckloads of aid wait to enter starvation-hit Gaza. What's holding them back?
At least 120 people have now died in Gaza from starvation-related causes, including over 80 children, even as Israel says hundreds of aid trucks are waiting at the border for the UN to distribute inside the Strip. The World Food Programme has warned that 90,000 women and children are in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition. The UN says its efforts to deliver aid are being held back by Israeli military restrictions and criminal looting read more The United Nations and several experts warn that Palestinians in Gaza are facing the risk of famine. Reports continue to emerge of more people dying from hunger-related causes. Israel, however, says that hundreds of aid trucks are waiting at the border for the UN to distribute them inside Gaza. ALSO READ | '1 in 5 children in Gaza City is malnourished': Where's the food aid? As per the latest update, two more infants have died from malnutrition, as the total number of starvation-related deaths in Gaza climbs to over 120. Among them are more than 80 children, Al Jazeera reported. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The World Food Programme has stated that nearly a third of Gaza's population is going without food for days. It has warned that 90,000 women and children urgently need treatment for malnutrition. After nearly two years of intense conflict, the worsening humanitarian situation has led some Western countries, once supportive of Israel's actions in Gaza, to reconsider their positions. France said on Thursday that it would soon recognise an independent State of Palestine, joining other European nations that have taken similar steps. Notably, the leaders of France, the UK and Germany have also agreed that Israel should lift all restrictions on aid access immediately. On Thursday, Israel's military took journalists to the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, where aid boxes were stacked on pallets across a wide area. Israel says it has allowed about 4,500 aid trucks to enter Gaza since May, when the full blockade was lifted. This averages to roughly 70 trucks a day, one of the lowest daily rates since the war began and far short of the few hundred that the UN says are needed daily. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Israel argues it is letting in enough supplies and blames UN agencies for not collecting and distributing the aid. The UN says its efforts are blocked by Israeli military restrictions and incidents of criminal looting. On Friday, Israel said it would now allow foreign countries to airdrop food into Gaza. Jordan and the United Arab Emirates are expected to begin these aid drops in the coming days, The New York Times reported citing COGAT, the Israeli military agency in charge of humanitarian matters in Gaza. So why has the aid not reached people until now? What is stopping it? Let's take a look: Access denials and unsafe areas To retrieve the aid at the border or move around most of the Gaza Strip, U.N. trucks must enter zones controlled by the military after obtaining its permission. Once the aid is loaded, the trucks must get safely to the population. The whole trip can take 20 hours, the U.N. says. Large crowds of desperate people, as well as criminal gangs, overwhelm trucks as they enter and strip off the supplies. Witnesses say Israeli troops regularly open fire on the crowds, causing deaths and injuries. Israeli soldier stands beside humanitarian aid packages awaiting pickup on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing in the Gaza Strip. AP 'Taken together, these factors have put people and humanitarian staff at grave risk and forced aid agencies on many occasions to pause the collection of cargo from crossings controlled by the Israeli authorities,' said Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD At least 79 Palestinians were killed while trying to get aid entering Gaza this week, according to Gaza's health ministry. A U.N. official who was not authorised to discuss the issue publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israeli forces opened fire toward crowds who tried to take food from an entering truck convoy. Israel's military said soldiers shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who posed a threat, and it was aware of some casualties. On its website, OCHA said there is a breakdown of law and order, which is partly due to the collapse of Gaza's Hamas-run civilian police force, leading to insecurity at the crossings and for convoys moving within Gaza. It said this is further compounded by the increase of armed gangs. The military frequently assigns routes for trucks to use that are 'unsuitable, either impassable for long truck convoys, passing through crowded markets, or controlled by dangerous gangs,' OCHA said. When the U.N. objects to a route, the military provides few alternatives, it said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The U.N. also struggles with facilitation from the military. It says more than half its movement requests, 506 out of 894, were either denied or impeded by the military in May, June and July. There are also regular delays by Israel's forces in coordination. The delays result in lost time, difficulty planning and wasted resources as convoys spend hours waiting for the 'green light to move only to be denied,' OCHA said. ALSO READ | Why Israel wants its military intelligence to study Islam and learn Arabic What is Israel saying? Israel says it doesn't limit the truckloads of aid coming into Gaza and that assessments of roads in Gaza are conducted weekly where it looks for the best ways to provide access for the international community. Col. Abdullah Halaby, a top official in COGAT, the Israeli military agency in charge of transferring aid to the territory, said there are several crossings open. 'We encourage our friends and our colleagues from the international community to do the collection, and to distribute the humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,' he said. An Israeli security official who was not allowed to be named in line with military procedures told reporters this week that the U.N. wanted to use roads that were not approved. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD He said the army offered to escort the aid groups, but they refused. What is the UN saying? For much of the war, U.N. agencies were able to safely deliver aid to those who need it, despite Israeli restrictions and occasional attacks and looting. The Hamas-run police provided public security. But as Israeli airstrikes targeted the police force, it has been unable to operate. The U.N. says being escorted by Israel's army could bring harm to civilians, citing shootings and killings by Israeli troops surrounding aid operations. Palestinians hold onto an aid truck returning to Gaza City from the northern Gaza Strip. AP The U.N. and aid groups also say that looting of trucks lessens or stops entirely when enough aid is allowed into Gaza. 'The best protection for us is community buy-in,' said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. 'And to get that community buy-in, communities have to understand that trucks will come every day, that food will come every day.' 'That's what we're asking for,' he said. With inputs from AP
