UN: Disabilities, malnutrition, and fuel blockade worsening Gaza's crisis
More than 80 percent of people with disabilities in Gaza have lost their assistive devices, severely restricting their movement and access to essential services, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported, warning of growing risks for this vulnerable population.
'With their mobility restricted, vulnerable people are having to endure many challenges, including the denial of access to humanitarian aid, discrimination, stigmatization, and exposure to explosive ordnance,' the UN body warned.
We hold all parties to the standards of international law.We don't have to choose – and we must not choose – between ending the starvation of civilians in #Gaza and demanding the unconditional release of hostages.My remarks at Security Council: pic.twitter.com/V4TUM1WogF
— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) July 17, 2025
According to the United Nations, Israeli authorities are also blocking the delivery of fuel supplies to hospitals, further crippling Gaza's already overwhelmed health system. Fuel is critical for powering generators that keep intensive care units, incubators, and surgical wards functioning.
In a separate update, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported alarming rates of child malnutrition. 'One in every ten children screened in our Gaza clinics is suffering from malnutrition,' the agency stated.
In #Gaza, older persons and persons with disabilities are facing escalating protection risks.Repeated displacement, lack of care, and collapse of support systems have left many without the basics for survival.🔗 Latest update https://t.co/xAwkp7beCa pic.twitter.com/6tSdJdzPok
— OCHA MENA (@ocharomena) July 17, 2025
Since January 2024, more than 240,000 children under the age of five have been examined.
'Before the war, malnutrition in Gaza was extremely rare,' UNRWA noted, adding that medications, nutritional supplements, hygiene supplies, and fuel are running dangerously low.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued intense air and artillery strikes across the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian media, multiple air raids since dawn targeted residential neighborhoods in eastern Gaza City, while drones fired on homes in the Sheikh Radwan area in the north.
Hospitals in Gaza received 94 fatalities — including one body recovered from under rubble — and 367 wounded over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in its latest update.
#شاهد.. لحظة نقل جرحى؛ جرّاء قصف مسيرة "إسرائيلية" تجمعًا للمدنيين في محيط مجمع الصحابة الطبي، داخل حي الدرج شرق مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/bAVAZ7fSuI
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) July 17, 2025
The ministry added that many victims remain trapped under debris or lie in streets that rescue teams cannot reach due to ongoing hostilities.
Since the outbreak of hostilities on October 7, 2023, the overall death toll from Israeli military operations has reached 58,667, with at least 139,974 wounded, according to the Ministry of Health.
At least 26 of those killed in the past 24 hours were civilians attempting to access humanitarian aid, the ministry said, along with more than 32 wounded. The total number of people killed while seeking aid has now risen to 877, with over 5,432 injured.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Shafaq News
8 minutes ago
- Shafaq News
Iraqi Kurdistan hosts 4th IKAOS conference in Erbil
Shafaq News – Erbil On Thursday, Erbil province hosted the 4th International Conference of the Iraqi Kurdistan Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (IKAOS). Bringing together leading specialists from across Iraq and abroad, the event focused on advancing cardiology and vascular medicine by transferring cutting-edge global knowledge to local institutions to improve healthcare services. Sessions also featured expert presentations and debates on current challenges and breakthroughs in cardiovascular treatment and research.
Shafaq News
an hour ago
- Shafaq News
Gaza famine deepens as crossings remain closed for 145 days
Shafaq News – Gaza At least 17 Palestinians, including three individuals seeking humanitarian aid, were killed by Israeli fire on Thursday, according to Palestinian media outlets, as Gaza's humanitarian crisis continues to intensify under a prolonged blockade. The Government Media Office in Gaza reported that famine is spreading rapidly across the enclave, attributing the deterioration to the complete closure of all Israeli-controlled border crossings for the past 145 days. Since October 7, 2023, hospitals have recorded over 115 deaths linked to starvation and malnutrition, within a total death toll that now nears 60,000. The office estimated that Gaza requires a minimum of 500,000 flour bags weekly to prevent further collapse of essential services, urging the international community to facilitate the immediate and sustained entry of food, medicine, and infant formula to the more than 2.4 million residents living under siege. Responding to reports on social media suggesting an improvement in humanitarian conditions or the entry of large numbers of aid trucks, the office rejected these claims, describing them as inconsistent with on-the-ground realities and warning against what it called a 'deliberate distortion of the ongoing crime.' The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) expressed concern about the strain on humanitarian personnel. 'Starving and exhausted, medical and humanitarian workers are fainting while on duty,' the agency wrote on X, renewing its call for a ceasefire and coordinated aid delivery at scale. 'Where else in the world has this happened? #Gaza: starving and exhausted, medical and humanitarian workers are fainting while on UNRWA staff are struggling to find food yet continue to much longer until words turn into action?A ceasefire and a standard… — UNRWA (@UNRWA) July 23, 2025 The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported a rise in child and elderly deaths due to hunger, two months after the launch of a new aid distribution mechanism. It cited continued access restrictions, violence near aid sites, and logistical failures as contributing factors. Over two months after Israel launched an aid distribution mechanism through the #Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, starvation in Gaza has reached its peak, with dozens of children and elderly people dying from severe Here are 8 reasons⤵️ — Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) July 23, 2025 Meanwhile, the Gaza-based Palestinian Tribal and Clan Council warned of a worsening water crisis, pointing to the near-total lack of potable water following the destruction of infrastructure and disruption of key water sources. The council called for international intervention to address what it described as 'a life-threatening shortage.' Starving civilians in northern Gaza lured to aid sites and executed, revealing brutal pattern of Israel's genocide — Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) July 23, 2025 Protests have taken place in cities across Europe and North America, including London, Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Vienna, New York, and Chicago, calling for increased aid and an end to hostilities. In Vienna, demonstrators banged empty pots to draw attention to Gaza's food crisis. Demonstrations were also reported in Tel Aviv, where protesters criticized Israeli policy toward the Gaza blockade. نشطاء يقرعون الأواني الفارغة في العاصمة النمساوية فيينا لدق ناقوس الخطر حول المجاعة والحرب المستمرة على غزة. — المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) July 24, 2025
Iraqi News
4 hours ago
- Iraqi News
WHO chief says large proportion of Palestinians ‘starving'
Geneva – The World Health Organization's chief warned Wednesday of widespread starvation in Gaza, saying food deliveries into the war-ravaged Palestinian territory were 'far below what is needed for the survival of the population'. 'A large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving. I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation — and it's man-made,' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. His statement added his voice to those of 111 aid organisations and rights groups, including MSF and Oxfam, who warned earlier Wednesday that 'mass starvation' was spreading in Gaza. 'Our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away,' they said in a joint statement. Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, where more than two million people are facing severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict. Even after Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade in late May, Gaza's population is still suffering extreme scarcities. 'The 2.1 million people trapped in the war zone that is Gaza are facing yet another killer on top of bombs and bullets: starvation,' Tedros said. 'We are now witnessing a deadly surge in malnutrition-related deaths,' he added. – Children starving to death – Tedros highlighted that 'rates of global acute malnutrition exceed 10 percent, and over 20 percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women that have been screened are malnourished, often severely'. The UN health agency has documented 21 deaths in Gaza related to malnutrition of children under the age of five since the beginning of the year, but acknowledges that that the true number is likely higher. The head of Gaza's largest hospital said Tuesday that 21 children had died due to malnutrition and starvation in the Palestinian territory over the previous three days alone. Tedros warned that 'the hunger crisis is being accelerated by the collapse of aid pipelines and restrictions on access'. The starvation is 'man-made' and clearly caused by Israel's blockade on the territory, he said. The WHO chief highlighted how starving people were risking their lives to access aid. The UN rights office said Tuesday that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid in Gaza since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May. 'Not only 1,026 were killed while trying to feed themselves or find food for their family. Thousands were also wounded,' Tedros said. 'We demand that there is full access, and we demand that there is a ceasefire,' he said. 'We demand that there is a political solution to this problem, a lasting solution.'
