Latest news with #KhanYounis

ABC News
3 minutes ago
- Health
- ABC News
Hunger and malnutrition rapidly increasing in Gaza
Seela Barbakh, an 11-month-old Palestinian girl who is malnourished, according to medics, is held by her mother, Najah, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 23, 2025. (Reuters: Ramadan Abed)


Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Health
- Al Jazeera
At least 15 starve to death in 24 hours in Gaza as Israel continues attacks
Latest malnutrition-related deaths include a six-week-old baby, while dozens more are killed in Israeli strikes across the enclave. At least 15 people, including a six-week-old baby, have starved to death in the last 24 hours in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to health officials, who say a wave of hunger that has loomed over the bombarded enclave for months is now finally crashing down. Six-week-old Yousef's family could not find baby formula to feed him, said his uncle, Adham al-Safadi. 'You can't get milk anywhere, and if you do find any, it's $100 for a tub,' he told the Reuters news agency. Three other children were among the 15 people who died from starvation on Tuesday, including 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, who died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, at least 101 people, including 80 children, have died from hunger and malnutrition since Israel launched its assault on Gaza in October 2023. Most of the deaths have come in the last few weeks. Gaza has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March. Israel then partially lifted the blockade in May, allowing a trickle of aid supplies to enter the territory and be distributed by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), largely bypassing the United Nations. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since May while trying to get aid, mostly near the GHF distribution sites, according to the UN rights office. The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, Phillipe Lazzarini, said the aid distribution scheme was a 'sadistic death trap'. Advertisement 'The so called 'GHF' distribution scheme is a sadistic death trap. Snipers open fire randomly on crowds as if they are given a licence to kill,' Lazzarini said on Tuesday on X. 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 GHF has rejected what it said were 'false and exaggerated statistics' from the UN. 'Horror show' Lazzarini also warned that the UN agency's staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the situation for the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza facing bombardment, malnutrition and starvation a 'horror show', with 'a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times. 'We are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles,' Guterres told the UN Security Council. 'That system is being denied the conditions to function.' Speaking to reporters, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital, said malnourished Palestinians were arriving at Gaza's remaining functioning hospitals 'every moment', and warned that there could be 'alarming numbers' of deaths due to starvation. 'Hospitals are already overwhelmed by the number of casualties from gunfire. They can't provide much more help for hunger-related symptoms because of food and medicine shortages,' said Khalil al-Daqran, the spokesperson for Gaza's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Deqran said some 600,000 people were suffering from malnutrition, including at least 60,000 pregnant women. Symptoms among those going hungry include dehydration and anaemia, he said. While Gaza has widespread shortages of goods due to the Israeli restrictions, baby formula, in particular, is in critically short supply, according to aid groups, doctors and residents. In a statement, Hamas said it was time to 'break the restrictions' and allow for more aid to enter Gaza, adding that it was surprised by the 'silence' of Arab and Islamic countries in light of the 'systematic genocide and criminal starvation' in the enclave. Deadly attacks continue Medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least 81 other Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Tuesday, including 31 people who were seeking aid. Advertisement Mahmoud Bassal, the spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defence, said Israeli strikes on the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 50. In Gaza City, an Israeli attack on a building housing displaced Palestinians killed 15 people, including six children, according to a source at al-Shifa Hospital. Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said Israeli air strikes hit residential clusters in the eastern part of the city, particularly the Zeitoun neighbourhood. A 'group of people' was hit, he said. The attacks come a day after Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern parts of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza for the first time since the deadly assault began. According to Mahmoud, 'many Palestinians are unable to go back to their homes as they are in the firing line of heavy artillery', despite claims by the Israeli army that it has concluded its assault in Deir el-Balah. 'Quadcopters and surveillance drones also hover over the area, creating an atmosphere of intimidation and fear,' Mahmoud said. The Civil Defence agency's Bassal said two people were killed in Deir el-Balah on Tuesday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were living in the area, which, until the Israeli offensive this week, had been considered the only relatively safe area in the tiny Strip. Some 30,000 were living in displacement camps. OCHA said that nearly 88 percent of the entire Gaza Strip was now either under evacuation threats or within Israeli militarised zones, forcing the population into an ever-shrinking space. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, meanwhile, accused Israeli troops of entering its staff residence and forcing women and children to evacuate, as they handcuffed, stripped and interrogated male staff at gunpoint. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to health officials.


Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Health
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Baby Boy Starves to Death in Gaza as Hunger Spreads, Medics Say
Six-week-old Yousef's lifeless body lay limp on a hospital table in Gaza City, his skin stretched over protruding ribs and a bandage where a drip had been inserted into his tiny arm. Doctors said the cause of death was starvation. He was among 15 people to starve to death in the last 24 hours in Gaza, according to doctors who say a wave of hunger that has loomed over the enclave for months is now finally crashing down. Yousef's family couldn't find baby formula to feed him, said his uncle, Adham al-Safadi. "You can't get milk anywhere, and if you do find any it's $100 for a tub," he said, looking at his dead nephew. Three of the other Palestinians who died of hunger over the last day were also children, including 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, who died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in airstrikes, shelling and shooting since launching their assault on Gaza in response to attacks on Israel by the Hamas group that killed 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages in October 2023. For the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of hunger. Gaza has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May with new measures it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to armed groups. At least 101 people are known to have died of hunger during the conflict, according to Palestinian officials, including 80 children, most of them in just the last few weeks. Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, denies that it is responsible for shortages of food. Israel's military said that it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza as a matter of utmost importance", and works to facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community. It has blamed the United Nations for failing to protect aid it says is stolen by Hamas and other gunmen. The fighters deny stealing it. More than 800 people have been killed in recent weeks trying to reach food, mostly in mass shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near distribution centers of a new, US-backed aid organization. The United Nations has rejected this system as inherently unsafe, and a violation of humanitarian neutrality principles needed to ensure that distribution succeeds. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the situation for the 2.3 million residents of the Palestinian enclave a "horror show". "We are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles," Guterres told the UN Security Council. "That system is being denied the conditions to function." The Norwegian Refugee Council, which supported hundreds of thousands of Gazans in the first year of the war, said its aid stocks were now depleted and some of its own staff were starving. "Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left," its director Jan Egeland told Reuters. "Israel is not yielding. They just want to paralyze our work," he said. The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday that its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that images of civilians killed during the distribution of aid were "unbearable" and urged Israel to deliver on pledges to improve the situation. FOOD AND MEDICINE SHORTAGES On Tuesday, men and boys lugged sacks of flour past destroyed buildings and tarpaulins in Gaza City, grabbing what food they could from aid warehouses. "We haven't eaten for five days," said Mohammed Jundia. Israeli military statistics showed on Tuesday that an average of 146 trucks of aid per day had entered Gaza over the course of the war. The United States has said a minimum of 600 trucks per day are needed to feed Gaza's population. "Hospitals are already overwhelmed by the number of casualties from gunfire. They can't provide much more help for hunger-related symptoms because of food and medicine shortages," said Khalil al-Deqran, a spokesperson for the health ministry. Deqran said some 600,000 people were suffering from malnutrition, including at least 60,000 pregnant women. Symptoms among those going hungry include dehydration and anaemia, he said. Baby formula in particular is in critically short supply, according to aid groups, doctors and residents. The health ministry said at least 72 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes in the past 24 hours, including 16 people living in tents in Gaza City. The Israeli military said it wasn't aware of any incident or artillery in the area at that time.


Irish Times
2 days ago
- Health
- Irish Times
‘We haven't eaten for five days': Baby boy starves to death in Gaza as hunger spreads, medics say
Six-week-old Yousef's lifeless body lay limp on a hospital table in Gaza City, his skin stretched over protruding ribs and a bandage where a drip had been inserted into his tiny arm. Doctors said the cause of death was starvation. He was among 15 people to starve to death in the last 24 hours in Gaza , according to doctors, who say a wave of hunger that has loomed over the enclave for months is now finally crashing down. Yousef's family couldn't find baby formula to feed him, said his uncle, Adham al-Safadi. READ MORE 'You can't get milk anywhere, and if you do find any it's $100 (€25) for a tub,' he said, looking at his dead nephew. Three of the other Palestinians who died of hunger over the last day were also children, including 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, who died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in air strikes, shelling and shooting since launching their assault on Gaza in response to attacks on Israel by the Hamas group that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 hostages captured in October 2023. For the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of hunger. Gaza has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May with new measures it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups. At least 101 people are known to have died of hunger during the conflict, according to Palestinian officials, including 80 children, most of them in just the last few weeks. [ Doctors and humanitarian staff fainting from hunger in Gaza, says Unrwa head Opens in new window ] Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, denies that it is responsible for shortages of food. Israel's military said that it 'views the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza as a matter of utmost importance', and works to facilitate its entry in co-ordination with the international community. It has blamed the United Nations for failing to protect aid it says is stolen by Hamas and other militants. The fighters deny stealing it. More than 800 people have been killed in recent weeks trying to reach food, mostly in mass shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near distribution centres of a new, US-backed aid organisation. The United Nations has rejected this system as inherently unsafe and a violation of humanitarian neutrality principles needed to ensure that distribution succeeds. For the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of hunger. Photograph: AFP/ Getty Images) United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called the situation for the 2.3 million residents of the Palestinian enclave a 'horror show'. 'We are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles,' Guterres told the UN Security Council. 'That system is being denied the conditions to function.' The Norwegian Refugee Council, which supported hundreds of thousands of Gazans in the first year of the war, said its aid stocks were now depleted and some of its own staff were starving. 'Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left,' its director Jan Egeland told Reuters. 'Israel is not yielding. They just want to paralyse our work,' he said. The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday that its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that images of civilians killed during the distribution of aid were 'unbearable' and urged Israel to deliver on pledges to improve the situation. On Tuesday, men and boys lugged sacks of flour past destroyed buildings and tarpaulins in Gaza City, grabbing what food they could from aid warehouses. 'We haven't eaten for five days,' said Mohammed Jundia. Israeli military statistics showed on Tuesday that an average of 146 trucks of aid per day had entered Gaza over the course of the war. The United States has said a minimum of 600 trucks per day are needed to feed Gaza's population. 'Hospitals are already overwhelmed by the number of casualties from gunfire. They can't provide much more help for hunger-related symptoms because of food and medicine shortages,' said Khalil al-Deqran, a spokesperson for the a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. Deqran said some 600,000 people were suffering from malnutrition, including at least 60,000 pregnant women. Symptoms among those going hungry include dehydration and anaemia, he said. Baby formula in particular is in critically short supply, according to aid groups, doctors and residents. Gaza's health ministry said at least 72 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes in the past 24 hours, including 16 people living in tents in Gaza City. The Israeli military said it wasn't aware of any incident or artillery in the area at that time. Meanwhile, Israel is reported to have refused to renew the visa of a senior UN official who oversees humanitarian affairs in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, further straining tense ties between the government of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the organisation. The UN official, Jonathan Whittall, will not be allowed to continue working in the country, foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar said. Mr Whittall is the acting head of the local branch of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which plays a big role in managing the entry of desperately needed aid into Gaza. Sa'ar cited what he called Whittall's 'biased and hostile conduct against Israel' as the grounds for the decision.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Medics say four Gaza children starve to death in hunger crisis
STORY: A six-week-old infant and three other children have died of starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours. That's according to local health officials, who said malnutrition and starvation are now killing Palestinians faster than at any point in the 21-month war. The infant died at a hospital ward in northern Gaza, the health officials said, naming him as Yousef al-Safadi. The teenager, 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. The other two were not named. Palestinian health officials say at least 101 people have died of hunger during the conflict, including 80 children, with most of them in recent weeks. In Gaza City, Mohammed Jundia said he hadn't eaten in five days. An injury prevents him from getting to aid sites. Someone pitied him and gave him a bag of flour. He said, "We don't have food available, we don't have anything to drink, nothing is available. The famine is killing people. The distance we walk is too far away.' Israel controls all aid supplies into the war-ravaged enclave, where most of the population has been displaced multiple times and faces acute shortages of basic necessities. "Gaza has become hell on earth, and no place is safe." The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday that its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion. "Doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them UNRWA staff, are hungry." Israel's military said that it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza as a matter of utmost importance", and works to facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community. It has denied accusations it is preventing aid from reaching Gaza and has accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of stealing food, an allegation Hamas denies. Israeli military statistics showed on Tuesday that an average of 146 trucks of aid per day had entered Gaza over the course of the war. The United States has said a minimum of 600 trucks per day are needed to feed Gaza's population.