Gaza Faces Deadliest Day for Aid Seekers as Malnutrition Threatens Children
Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for areas crowded with displaced people and international aid organizations in central Gaza, raising alarm over a new ground operation amid the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Strip. Largest Death Toll
On Sunday, at least 85 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Most of the victims, were in northern Gaza, as at least 79 people died while trying to get aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel, the head of the Health Ministry's records department, Zaher al-Waheidi, told the Associated Press (AP).
Moreover, Israeli troops killed 6 Palestinians in the Shakoush area, near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the southern city of Rafah, according to al-Waheidi. However, the US-backed organization said it was not aware of any incident near its site.
Another 7 Palestinians were killed in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, including a 5-year-old boy, according to the Kuwait Specialized Field Hospital. Tragic Incident
The UN World Food Program (WFP) said a convoy of 25 trucks carrying vital food aid had entered into the area to help starving communities, but the convoy faced large crowds of civilians desperately waiting for needed food supplies. Hospitals said they received more than 150 casualties, some in critical condition.
'As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire,' the WFP said in a statement. It voiced deep concern over this 'tragic incident' that resulted in the loss of many lives.
'These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza,' the statement added. Israel Blames Hamas
The Israeli military put the blame on Hamas, accusing the Palestinian movement's elements of creating chaos. It said Israeli forces opened fire at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians who posed a threat.
The Israeli military acknowledged some casualties, but said that numbers reported by officials in Gaza were far higher than the findings of its initial investigation. Malnutrition Risks
The WFP warned that the hunger crisis in Gaza has reached 'new levels of desperation' due to lack of humanitarian assistance and the spread of malnutrition among women and children. 'Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment. Nearly one person in three is not eating for days,' it said.
As a result, the UN agency called for an immediate ceasefire to scale up food supplies distribution. 'We urgently call on the international community and all parties to advocate for, and facilitate, the delivery of life-saving food aid to starving populations inside Gaza – safely, securely, wherever families are, and without obstruction,' the WFP said. New Evacuation Orders
The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for parts of central Gaza, one of the few areas where Israel has rarely operated with ground troops. These areas also host large crowds of displaced people and several international organizations trying to distribute humanitarian assistance. The military also reiterated evacuation orders for northern Gaza.
The new evacuation orders direct residents and displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah to move south towards al-Mawasi, saying that the Israeli military 'continues to operate with great force to destroy the enemy's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area.'
In response, the UN OCHA warned that the new evacuation orders 'dealt yet another devastating blow' to humanitarian efforts in Gaza, as Deir al-Balah hosts between 50,000 and 80,000 people, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement sites.
'The newly-designated area includes several humanitarian warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, and critical water infrastructure: the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant, three water wells, one water reservoir, one solid waste dumping site and one wastewater pumping station. Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences,' it said in a statement.
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Asharq Al-Awsat
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Gaza Running Out of Specialized Food to Save Malnourished Children
Gaza is on the brink of running out of the specialized therapeutic food needed to save the lives of severely malnourished children, United Nations and humanitarian agencies say. "We are now facing a dire situation, that we are running out of therapeutic supplies," said Salim Oweis, a spokesperson for UNICEF in Amman, Jordan told Reuters on Thursday, saying supplies of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a crucial treatment, would be depleted by mid-August if nothing changed. "That's really dangerous for children as they face hunger and malnutrition at the moment," he added. Oweis said UNICEF had only enough RUTF left to treat 3,000 children. In the first two weeks of July alone, UNICEF treated 5,000 children facing acute malnutrition in Gaza. Nutrient-dense, high-calorie RUTF supplies, such as high-energy biscuits and peanut paste enriched with milk powder, are critical for treating severe malnutrition. "Most malnutrition treatment supplies have been consumed and what is left at facilities will run out very soon if not replenished," a World Health Organization spokesperson said on Thursday. The WHO said that a program in Gaza that was aiming to prevent malnutrition among the most vulnerable, including pregnant women and children under five, may have to stop work as it is running out of the nutritional supplements. Gaza's food stocks have been running out since Israel, at war with Palestinian group Hamas since October 2023, cut off all supplies to the territory in March, lifting that blockade in May but with restrictions that it says are needed to prevent aid being diverted to "militant" groups. As a result, international aid agencies say that only a trickle of what is needed, including medicine, is currently reaching people in Gaza. Israel says it is committed to allowing in aid but must control it to prevent it from being diverted by "militants". It says it has let enough food into Gaza during the war and blames Hamas for the suffering of Gaza's 2.2 million people. COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, in response to emailed questions on RUTF supplies said it was working with international organizations to improve the distribution of aid from the crossings where hundreds of aid trucks were waiting. Save the Children, which runs a clinic that has treated spiking numbers of malnourished children in central Gaza, said it had not been able to bring in its own supplies since February and was relying on United Nations deliveries. "If they're going to run out, that's also going to affect UNICEF partners and other organizations that rely on their supplies to provide that for children," said Alexandra Saieh, Global Head of Humanitarian Policy and Advocacy at Save the Children. UNICEF said that from April to mid-July, 20,504 children were admitted with acute malnutrition. Of those patients, 3,247 were suffering from severe acute malnutrition, nearly triple the number in the first three months of the year. Severe acute malnutrition can lead to death, and to long-term physical and mental developmental health problems in children who survive. The WHO said on Wednesday 21 children under the age of five were among those who died of malnutrition so far this year. Two more Palestinians died overnight from starvation, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday, bringing the total number of people who have starved to death to 113, most of them in recent weeks as a wave of hunger crashes on the Palestinian enclave.
Al Arabiya
8 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Gaza running out of specialized food to save lives of malnourished children
Gaza is on the brink of running out of the specialized therapeutic food needed to save the lives of severely malnourished children, United Nations and humanitarian agencies say. 'We are now facing a dire situation, that we are running out of therapeutic supplies,' said Salim Oweis, a spokesperson for UNICEF in Amman, Jordan told Reuters on Thursday, saying supplies of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a crucial treatment, would be depleted by mid-August if nothing changed. 'That's really dangerous for children as they face hunger and malnutrition at the moment,' he added. Oweis said UNICEF had only enough RUTF left to treat 3,000 children. In the first two weeks of July alone, UNICEF treated 5,000 children facing acute malnutrition in Gaza. Nutrient-dense, high-calorie RUTF supplies, such as high-energy biscuits and peanut paste enriched with milk powder, are critical for treating severe malnutrition. 'Most malnutrition treatment supplies have been consumed and what is left at facilities will run out very soon if not replenished,' a World Health Organization spokesperson said on Thursday. The WHO said that a program in Gaza that was aiming to prevent malnutrition among the most vulnerable, including pregnant women and children under five, may have to stop work as it is running out of the nutritional supplements. 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, lifting that blockade in May but with restrictions that it says are needed to prevent aid being diverted to militant groups. As a result, international aid agencies say that only a trickle of what is needed, including medicine, is currently reaching people in Gaza. Israel says it is committed to allowing in aid but must control it to prevent it from being diverted by militants. It says it has let enough food into Gaza during the war and blames Hamas for the suffering of Gaza's 2.2 million people. COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, in response to emailed questions on RUTF supplies said it was working with international organizations to improve the distribution of aid from the crossings where hundreds of aid trucks were waiting. Save the Children, which runs a clinic that has treated spiking numbers of malnourished children in central Gaza, said it had not been able to bring in its own supplies since February and was relying on United Nations deliveries. 'If they're going to run out, that's also going to affect UNICEF partners and other organizations that rely on their supplies to provide that for children,' said Alexandra Saieh, Global Head of Humanitarian Policy and Advocacy at Save the Children. UNICEF said that from April to mid-July, 20,504 children were admitted with acute malnutrition. Of those patients, 3,247 were suffering from severe acute malnutrition, nearly triple the number in the first three months of the year. Severe acute malnutrition can lead to death, and to long-term physical and mental developmental health problems in children who survive. The WHO said on Wednesday 21 children under the age of five were among those who died of malnutrition so far this year. Two more Palestinians died overnight from starvation, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday, bringing the total number of people who have starved to death to 113, most of them in recent weeks as a wave of hunger crashes on the Palestinian enclave.
Asharq Al-Awsat
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- Asharq Al-Awsat
Dozens of Children and Adults in Gaza Have Starved to Death in July as Hunger Surges
Five starving children at a Gaza City hospital were wasting away, and nothing the doctors tried was working. The basic treatments for malnourishment that could save them had run out under Israel's blockade. The alternatives were ineffective. One after another, the babies and toddlers died over four days. In greater numbers than ever, children hollowed up by hunger are overwhelming the Patient's Friends Hospital, the main emergency center for malnourished kids in northern Gaza. The deaths last weekend also marked a change: the first seen by the center in children who had no preexisting conditions. Symptoms are getting worse, with children too weak to cry or move, said Dr. Rana Soboh, a nutritionist. In past months, most improved, despite supply shortages, but now patients stay longer and don't get better, she said. 'There are no words in the face of the disaster we are in. Kids are dying before the world ... There is no uglier and more horrible phase than this,' said Soboh, who works with the US-based aid organization Medglobal, which supports the hospital. This month, the hunger that has been building among Gaza's more than 2 million Palestinians passed a tipping point into accelerating death, aid workers and health staff say. Not only children — usually the most vulnerable — are falling victim under Israel's blockade since March, but also adults. In the past three weeks, at least 48 people died of causes related to malnutrition, including 28 adults and 20 children, the Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday. That's up from 10 children who died in the five previous months of 2025, according to the ministry. The UN reports similar numbers. The World Health Organization said Wednesday it has documented 21 children under 5 who died of causes related to malnutrition in 2025. The UN humanitarian office, OCHA, said Thursday at least 13 children's deaths were reported in July, with the number growing daily. 'Humans are well developed to live with caloric deficits, but only so far,' said Dr. John Kahler, Medglobal's co-founder and a pediatrician who volunteered twice in Gaza during the war. 'It appears that we have crossed the line where a segment of the population has reached their limits' 'This is the beginning of a population death spiral," he said. The UN's World Food Program says nearly 100,000 women and children urgently need treatment for malnutrition. Medical workers say they have run out of many key treatments and medicines. Israel, which began letting in only a trickle of supplies the past two months, has blamed Hamas for disrupting food distribution. The UN counters that Israel, which has restricted aid since the war began, simply has to allow it to enter freely. Hundreds of malnourished kids brought daily The Patient's Friends Hospital overflows with parents bringing in scrawny children – 200 to 300 cases a day, said Soboh. On Wednesday, staff laid toddlers on a desk to measure the circumference of their upper arms — the quickest way to determine malnutrition. In the summer heat, mothers huddled around specialists, asking for supplements. Babies with emaciated limbs screamed in agony. Others lay totally silent. The worst cases are kept for up to two weeks at the center's 10-bed ward, which this month has had up to 19 children at a time. It usually treats only children under 5, but began taking some as old as 11 or 12 because of worsening starvation among older children. Hunger gnaws at staff as well. Soboh said two nurses put themselves on IV drips to keep themselves going. 'We are exhausted. We are dead in the shape of the living,' she said. The five children died in succession last Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Four of them, aged 4 months to 2 years, had suffered gastric arrest: Their stomachs shut down. The hospital no longer had the right nutrition supplies for them. The fifth — 4 1/2-year-old Siwar — had alarmingly low potassium levels, a growing problem. She was so weak she could barely move her body. Medicine for potassium deficiency has largely run out across Gaza, Soboh said. The center had only a low-concentration potassium drip. The little girl didn't respond. After three days in the ICU, she died Saturday. 'If we don't have potassium (supplies), we will see more deaths,' she said. A 2-year-old is wasting away In the Shati Refugee Camp in Gaza city, 2-year-old Yazan Abu Ful's mother, Naima, pulled off his clothes to show his emaciated body. His vertebrae, ribs and shoulder-blades jutted out. His buttocks were shriveled. His face was expressionless. His father Mahmoud, who was also skinny, said they took him to the hospital several times. Doctors just say they should feed him. 'I tell the doctors, 'You see for yourself, there is no food,'' he said, Naima, who is pregnant, prepared a meal: Two eggplants they bought for $9 cut up and boiled in water. They will stretch out the pot of eggplant-water – not even a real soup – to last them a few days, they said. Several of Yazan's four older siblings also looked thin and drained. Holding him in his lap, Mahmoud Abu Ful lifted Yazan's limp arms. The boy lies on the floor most of the day, too weak to play with his brothers. 'If we leave him, he might just slip away from between our fingers, and we can't do anything.' Adults, too, are dying Starvation takes the vulnerable first, experts say: children and adults with health conditions. On Thursday, the bodies of an adult man and woman with signs of starvation were brought to Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said. One suffered from diabetes, the other from a heart condition, but they showed severe deficiencies of nutrients, gastric arrest and anemia from malnutrition. Many of the adults who have died had some sort of preexisting condition, like diabetes or heart or kidney trouble, worsened by malnutrition, Abu Selmia said. 'These diseases don't kill if they have food and medicine,' he said. Deaths come after months of Israeli siege Israel cut off entry of food, medicine, fuel and other supplies completely to Gaza for 2 ½ months starting in March, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. During that time, food largely ran out for aid groups and in marketplaces, and experts warned Gaza was headed for an outright famine. In late May, Israel slightly eased the blockade. Since then, it has allowed in around 4,500 trucks for the UN and other aid groups to distribute, including 2,500 tons of baby food and high-calorie special food for children, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. That is an average of 69 trucks a day, far below the 500-600 trucks a day the UN says are needed. The UN has been unable to distribute much of the aid because hungry crowds and gangs take most of it from its trucks. Separately, Israel has also backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which opened four centers distributing boxes of food supplies. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach the sites. On Tuesday, David Mencer, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister's office, denied there is a 'famine created by Israel' in Gaza and blamed Hamas for creating 'man-made shortages' by looting aid trucks. The UN denies Hamas siphons off significant quantities of aid. Humanitarian workers say Israel just needs to allow aid to flow in freely, saying looting stops whenever aid enters in large quantities.
