Malnutrition in Gaza leading to ‘silent massacre'
The Health Ministry said the level of hunger and malnutrition in the enclave was leading to a 'silent massacre'.
'The Ministry of Health holds the [Israeli] occupation and the international community responsible. We demand the immediate opening of crossings to allow food and medicine in,' the ministry said.
In the last 24 hours, 18 people died in Gaza due to famine, it found.
Systematic ethnic cleansing
Hamas said Israel's actions across Gaza are 'systematic ethnic cleansing in which killing, starvation and thirst are used as tools of genocide'.
In a statement, Hamas said the deaths of more than 70 children from malnutrition were a 'stain on humanity' and the silence from the international community was an 'additional crime'.
'Thousands of tonnes of aid are stuck behind the Rafah crossing as Gazans die of hunger, thirst, and disease. We hold the occupation and the US administration fully responsible for the massacres at aid points and the systematic killing mechanism in Gaza,' the Palestinian group said.
Hamas called for an urgent investigation into the GHF at whose sites more than 900 people have been killed while seeking life-saving aid.
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Observer
21 hours ago
- Observer
On Gaza malnutrition ward, a child's arm is as wide as mother's thumb
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: On the pink walls of Nasser hospital's child malnutrition ward, cartoon drawings show children running, smiling, and playing with flowers and balloons. Beneath the pictures, a handful of Gazan mothers watch over their babies who lie still and largely silent, mostly too exhausted by severe hunger to cry. The quiet is common in places treating the most acutely malnourished, doctors told Reuters, a sign of bodies shutting down. "She is always lethargic, lying down, like this… you do not find her responsive," said Zeina Radwan, mother of 10-month-old Maria Suhaib Radwan. She has not been able to find milk or enough food for her baby, and cannot breastfeed as she herself is underfed, surviving on one meal a day. "My children and I cannot live without nutrition." Over the last week, Reuters journalists spent five days in Nasser Medical Complex, one of only four centres left in Gaza able to treat the most dangerously hungry children. Gaza's food stocks have been running out since Israel, at war with Palestinian militant group Hamas since October 2023, cut off all supplies to the territory in March. That blockade was lifted in May but with restrictions that Israel says are needed to prevent aid being diverted to militant groups. As stocks ran out, the situation escalated in June and July, with the World Health Organization warning of mass starvation and images of emaciated children shocking the world. The Gaza health ministry says 151 people, including 89 children, have died of malnutrition, most in recent weeks. A global hunger monitor said on Tuesday that a famine scenario is unfolding. Israel says it has no aim to starve Gaza. This week it announced steps to allow more aid in, including pausing fighting in some locations, air dropping food and offering more secure routes. The United Nations said the scale of what is needed is vast in order to stave off famine and avert a health crisis. "We need milk for babies. We need medical supplies. We need some food, special food for nutritional department," said Dr Ahmed al-Farra, head of the paediatric and maternity department in Nasser Medical Complex. "We need everything for the hospitals." Israeli officials say many of those who died while malnourished in Gaza were suffering from pre-existing illnesses. Famine experts say this is typical in the early stages of a hunger crisis. "Children with underlying conditions are more vulnerable. They get affected earlier," said Marko Kerac, clinical associate professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who helped draw up the WHO's treatment guidelines for severe acute malnutrition. Farra said his hospital was now dealing with malnourished children with no previous health problems, like baby Wateen Abu Amounah, born healthy nearly three months ago and now weighing 100 grams less than she weighed at birth. "During the past three months she did not gain one gram. On the contrary the child's weight decreased," the doctor said. "There is total loss of muscles. It's only skin on top of bones, which is an indication that the child has entered a severe malnutrition phase," said Farra. "Even the face of the child: she has lost fat tissues from her cheeks." The baby's mother, Yasmin Abu Sultan, gestures at the child's limbs, her arms about as wide as her mother's thumb. "Can you see? These are her legs... Look at her arms," she said. SUPPLIES RUNNING OUT, FEW SPACES IN HOSPITAL The youngest babies in particular need special therapeutic formulas made with clean water, and supplies are running low, Farra and the WHO told Reuters. "All the key supplies for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition, including medical complications, are really running out," said Marina Adrianopoli, WHO nutrition lead for the Gaza response. "It's really a critical situation." The treatment centres are also operating beyond capacity, she said. In the first two weeks of July, more than 5,000 children under five received outpatient treatment for malnutrition, with 18% suffering from the severest form. That was a surge from 6,500 in the whole of June, already the highest of the war and almost certainly an underestimate, said the WHO. Seventy-three children with malnutrition and complications were hospitalised in July, up from 39 in June. Hospital places are scarce. Baby Wateen's mother said she tried to get the girl admitted last month, but the centre was full. After ten days with no milk available and barely a meal a day for the rest of the family, she returned last week because her daughter's condition was deteriorating. Like several of the infants at Nasser, Wateen also has a recurring fever and diarrhoea, illnesses that malnourished children are more vulnerable to and which make their condition more dangerous. "If she stays like this, I'm going to lose her," her mother said. Wateen remains in hospital getting treatment, where her mother encourages her to take tiny sips from a bottle of formula milk. A side-effect of severe malnutrition is, counter-intuitively, loss of appetite, doctors told Reuters. Yasmin herself lives on the one meal a day provided by the hospital. Some of the other babies Reuters met, like 10-month-old Maria, were discharged over the weekend after gaining weight, and given formula milk to take home with them. But others, like five-month-old Zainab Abu Haleeb, did not make it. Vulnerable to infection because of her severely malnourished state, she died on Saturday of sepsis. Her parents carried her tiny body out of the hospital for burial, wrapped in a white shroud.
Observer
3 days ago
- Observer
Daily pauses in Gaza fighting as aid arrives
Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and allow new aid corridors as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped supplies into the enclave, where images of starving Palestinians have alarmed the world. Israel has been facing growing international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas have broken off with no deal in sight. Military activity will stop from 10 am to 8 pm (0700-1700 GMT) until further notice in Al Mawasi, a designated humanitarian area along the coast, in central Deir Al Balah and in Gaza City, to the north. Jordan and the United Arab Emirates parachuted 25 tonnes of aid into the Gaza Strip on Sunday in their first airdrop in months, a Jordanian official source said. The official said the air drops were not a substitute for delivery by land. Palestinian health officials in Gaza City said at least 10 people were injured by falling aid boxes. The military said designated secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine will also be in place between 6 am and 11 pm starting from Sunday. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said staff would step up efforts to feed the hungry during the pauses in the designated areas. 'Our teams on the ground... will do all we can to reach as many starving people as we can in this window,' he said on X. Health officials at Al Awda and Al Aqsa Hospitals in the central Gaza Strip said Israeli firing killed at least 17 people and wounded 50 waiting for aid trucks on Sunday. Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in recent weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry in the enclave. The ministry reported six new deaths over the past 24 hours due to malnutrition, bringing the total deaths from malnutrition and hunger to 133 including 87 children. On Saturday, a five-month-old baby, Zainab Abu Haleeb, died of malnutrition at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, health workers said. 'Three months inside the hospital and this is what I get in return, that she is dead,' said her mother, Israa Abu Haleeb, standing next to the baby's father as he held their daughter's body wrapped in a white shroud.
Muscat Daily
4 days ago
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Israel begins airdropping aid into Gaza after declaring 'Tactical Pause'
Gaza – The Israeli military has begun airdropping humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, following weeks of growing international concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in the enclave. The move comes days after the United Nations and several aid organizations warned of mass starvation among Palestinians in the war-torn territory. Israel said Saturday it had begun airdrops of aid after months of accusations that it was restricting aid supplies to the war-devastated territory. The Israeli military said 'humanitarian corridors' would allow United Nations aid trucks to deliver food and other vital supplies to Gaza residents. Meanwhile, Egyptian aid trucks began entering Gaza through the Rafah border crossing today. The convoys carried essential supplies including food and medical aid, offering a lifeline to thousands of Palestinians who have been cut off from regular access to necessities. The renewed efforts come after months of accusations that Israel had been restricting the flow of aid into Gaza, particularly following the full blockade imposed in March. While some supplies resumed in May under stricter controls, aid agencies reported severe shortages and logistical barriers. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, dozens of deaths due to malnutrition have been recorded in recent weeks. The situation has prompted widespread calls for immediate international intervention to prevent further loss of life. However, Hamas dismissed the airdrops as 'symbolic', accusing Israel of trying to 'whitewash its image before the world.' Israel's announcement of aid corridors and military pauses is being closely monitored by global observers as a potential shift in its Gaza strategy. However, aid groups stress that sustained and unimpeded access is essential to preventing a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe. The international community is urging all sides to prioritise civilian lives and ensure that food, water, and medical assistance reach those most in need without delay.
