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The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
The latest child to starve to death in Gaza weighed less than when she was born
The baby was taken to the paediatric department of Nasser Hospital on Friday. She was already dead. A worker at the morgue carefully removed her Mickey Mouse-printed shirt, pulling it over her sunken, open eyes. He pulled up the hems of her pants to show her knobby knees. His thumb was wider than her ankle. He could count the bones of her chest. The girl had weighed more than 3kg (6.6lbs) when she was born, her mother said. When she died, she weighed less than 2kg (4.4lbs). Palestinians pray over the body of five-month-old baby Zainab Abu Halib (Mariam Dagga/AP) A doctor said it was a case of 'severe, severe starvation'. She was wrapped in a white sheet for burial and placed on the sandy ground for prayers. The bundle was barely wider than the imam's stance. He raised his open hands and invoked Allah once more. Zainab was one of 85 children to die of malnutrition-related causes in Gaza in the past three weeks, according to the latest toll released by the territory's health ministry on Saturday. Another 42 adults died of malnutrition-related causes in the same period, it said. 'She needed a special baby formula which did not exist in Gaza,' Zainab's father, Ahmed Abu Halib, told The Associated Press as he prepared for her funeral prayers in the hospital's courtyard in the southern city of Khan Younis. Dr Ahmed al-Farah, head of the paediatric department, said the girl had needed a special type of formula that helps with babies allergic to cow's milk. He said she had not suffered from any diseases, but the lack of the formula led to chronic diarrhoea and vomiting. She was not able to swallow as her weakened immune system led to a bacterial infection and sepsis, and quickly lost more weight. Esraa Abu Halib shows to journalists a photo of her five-month-old baby, Zainab (Mariam Dagga/AP) The child's family, like many of Gaza's Palestinians, lives in a tent, displaced. Her mother, who also has suffered from malnutrition, said she breastfed the girl for only six weeks before trying to feed her formula. 'With my daughter's death, many will follow,' she said. 'Their names are on a list that no-one looks at. They are just names and numbers. We are just numbers. Our children, whom we carried for nine months and then gave birth to, have become just numbers.' Her loose robe hid her own weight loss. The arrival of children suffering from malnutrition has surged in recent weeks, Dr al-Farah said. His department, with a capacity of eight beds, has been treating about 60 cases of acute malnutrition. They have placed additional mattresses on the ground. Another malnutrition clinic, affiliated with the hospital, receives an average of 40 cases weekly, he said. 'Unless the crossings are opened and food and baby formula are allowed in for this vulnerable segment of Palestinian society, we will witness unprecedented numbers of deaths,' he warned. Doctors and aid workers in Gaza blame Israel's restrictions on the entry of aid and medical supplies. Food security experts warn of famine in the territory of more than two million people. After ending the latest ceasefire in March, Israel cut off the entry of food, medicine, fuel and other supplies completely to Gaza for two and a half months, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. Under international pressure, Israel slightly eased the blockade in May. Since then, it has allowed in about 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, Israel's Foreign Ministry said last week. Israel says baby formula has been included, plus formula for special needs. The average of 69 trucks a day, however, is far below the 500 to 600 trucks a day the UN says are needed for Gaza. The UN says it has been unable to distribute much of the aid because hungry crowds and gangs take most of it from its arriving trucks. Separately, Israel has backed the US-registered Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which in May opened four centres distributing boxes of food supplies. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near those new aid sites, the UN human rights office says. Much of Gaza's population now relies on aid. 'There was a shortage of everything,' the mother of Zainab said as she grieved. 'How can a girl like her recover?'
Toronto Star
2 days ago
- Health
- Toronto Star
The latest child to starve to death in Gaza weighed less than when she was born
Palestinians pray over the body of 5-month-old baby, Zainab Abu Halib, who died from malnutrition-related causes, according to the family and the hospital, during her funeral outside the Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga) LC flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
Irish Examiner
19-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
32 Palestinians killed ‘while trying to reach food distribution sites in Gaza'
Israeli troops have opened fire towards crowds of Palestinians seeking food from distribution hubs in southern Gaza, killing at least 32 people, according to witnesses and hospital officials. The two incidents occurred near hubs operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The organisation launched operations in late May with backing from the US and Israel. The two governments are seeking to replace the traditional UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza, saying that Hamas militants siphon off supplies. The UN denies the allegation. It was a massacre... the occupation opened fire at us indiscriminately While the GHF says it has distributed millions of meals to hungry Palestinians, local health officials and witnesses say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli army fire as they try to reach the distribution hubs. The army, which is not at the sites but secures them from a distance, says it only fires warning shots if crowds get too close to its forces. The GHF, which employs private armed guards, says there have been no deadly shootings at its sites, though 20 people were killed at one of its locations this week, most of them in a stampede. The group accused Hamas agitators of causing a panic, but gave no evidence to back the claim. The army and the GHF did not immediately comment on Saturday's violence. Most of the deaths occurred as Palestinians massed in the Teina area, around two miles from a GHF aid distribution centre east of the city of Khan Younis. Mahmoud Mokeimar said he was walking with masses of people — mostly young men — towards the food hub when troops fired warning shots as the crowd advanced, before opening fire towards the marching people. 'It was a massacre… the occupation opened fire at us indiscriminately,' he said, adding that he managed to flee but saw at least three motionless bodies on the ground, and many other wounded. An injured Palestinian man is carried into Nasser Hospital (Mariam Dagga/AP) Akram Aker said troops fired machine guns mounted on tanks and drones. 'They encircled us and started firing directly at us,' he said. Monzer Fesifes, a Palestinian-Jordanian, said his 19-year-old son Hisham was among those killed in the Teina area. 'He went to bring food from the failed US, Zionist aid to feed us,' the father of six said, pleading for the Jordanian government to help evacuate them from the Palestinian enclave. The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 25 bodies, along with dozens of wounded. Seven other people, including one woman, were killed in the Shakoush area, hundreds of yards north of another GHF hub in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, the hospital said. The toll was also confirmed by the health ministry. Dr Mohamed Saker, the head of Nasser's nursing department, said it received 70 wounded people. He told the Associated Press that most of the casualties were shot in the head and chest, and some were placed in the already overwhelmed intensive care unit. 'The situation is difficult and tragic,' he said, adding that the facility lacks medical supplies to treat the daily flow of casualties. Boxes and bags of humanitarian aid delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Gaza's more than two million Palestinians are living through a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, and the territory is on the edge of famine, according to food security experts. Distribution at the GHF sites has often been chaotic. Boxes of food are left stacked on the ground inside the centres and, once opened, crowds charge in to grab whatever they can, according to witnesses and videos released by the GHF. In videos obtained recently by the AP from an American contractor working with the GHF, contractors use tear gas and stun grenades to keep crowds behind metal fences or to force them to disperse. Gunshots can also be heard. Hamas triggered the ongoing 21-month war in Gaza when it stormed into southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. An Israeli military offensive has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, displaced nearly all of Gaza's two million people and caused widespread destruction. Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar in recent weeks, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs.
Glasgow Times
19-07-2025
- Health
- Glasgow Times
32 Palestinians killed ‘while trying to reach food distribution sites in Gaza'
The two incidents occurred near hubs operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The organisation launched operations in late May with backing from the US and Israel. The two governments are seeking to replace the traditional UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza, saying that Hamas militants siphon off supplies. The UN denies the allegation. While the GHF says it has distributed millions of meals to hungry Palestinians, local health officials and witnesses say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli army fire as they try to reach the distribution hubs. The army, which is not at the sites but secures them from a distance, says it only fires warning shots if crowds get too close to its forces. The GHF, which employs private armed guards, says there have been no deadly shootings at its sites, though 20 people were killed at one of its locations this week, most of them in a stampede. The group accused Hamas agitators of causing a panic, but gave no evidence to back the claim. The army and the GHF did not immediately comment on Saturday's violence. Most of the deaths occurred as Palestinians massed in the Teina area, around two miles from a GHF aid distribution centre east of the city of Khan Younis. Mahmoud Mokeimar said he was walking with masses of people — mostly young men — towards the food hub when troops fired warning shots as the crowd advanced, before opening fire towards the marching people. 'It was a massacre… the occupation opened fire at us indiscriminately,' he said, adding that he managed to flee but saw at least three motionless bodies on the ground, and many other wounded. An injured Palestinian man is carried into Nasser Hospital (Mariam Dagga/AP) Akram Aker said troops fired machine guns mounted on tanks and drones. 'They encircled us and started firing directly at us,' he said. Monzer Fesifes, a Palestinian-Jordanian, said his 19-year-old son Hisham was among those killed in the Teina area. 'He went to bring food from the failed US, Zionist aid to feed us,' the father of six said, pleading for the Jordanian government to help evacuate them from the Palestinian enclave. The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 25 bodies, along with dozens of wounded. Seven other people, including one woman, were killed in the Shakoush area, hundreds of yards north of another GHF hub in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, the hospital said. The toll was also confirmed by the health ministry. Dr Mohamed Saker, the head of Nasser's nursing department, said it received 70 wounded people. He told the Associated Press that most of the casualties were shot in the head and chest, and some were placed in the already overwhelmed intensive care unit. 'The situation is difficult and tragic,' he said, adding that the facility lacks medical supplies to treat the daily flow of casualties. Boxes and bags of humanitarian aid delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Gaza's more than two million Palestinians are living through a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, and the territory is on the edge of famine, according to food security experts. Distribution at the GHF sites has often been chaotic. Boxes of food are left stacked on the ground inside the centres and, once opened, crowds charge in to grab whatever they can, according to witnesses and videos released by the GHF. In videos obtained recently by the AP from an American contractor working with the GHF, contractors use tear gas and stun grenades to keep crowds behind metal fences or to force them to disperse. Gunshots can also be heard. Hamas triggered the ongoing 21-month war in Gaza when it stormed into southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. An Israeli military offensive has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, displaced nearly all of Gaza's two million people and caused widespread destruction. Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar in recent weeks, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs.
The Herald Scotland
19-07-2025
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
32 Palestinians killed ‘while trying to reach food distribution sites in Gaza'
The organisation launched operations in late May with backing from the US and Israel. The two governments are seeking to replace the traditional UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza, saying that Hamas militants siphon off supplies. The UN denies the allegation. While the GHF says it has distributed millions of meals to hungry Palestinians, local health officials and witnesses say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli army fire as they try to reach the distribution hubs. The army, which is not at the sites but secures them from a distance, says it only fires warning shots if crowds get too close to its forces. The GHF, which employs private armed guards, says there have been no deadly shootings at its sites, though 20 people were killed at one of its locations this week, most of them in a stampede. The group accused Hamas agitators of causing a panic, but gave no evidence to back the claim. The army and the GHF did not immediately comment on Saturday's violence. Most of the deaths occurred as Palestinians massed in the Teina area, around two miles from a GHF aid distribution centre east of the city of Khan Younis. Mahmoud Mokeimar said he was walking with masses of people — mostly young men — towards the food hub when troops fired warning shots as the crowd advanced, before opening fire towards the marching people. 'It was a massacre… the occupation opened fire at us indiscriminately,' he said, adding that he managed to flee but saw at least three motionless bodies on the ground, and many other wounded. An injured Palestinian man is carried into Nasser Hospital (Mariam Dagga/AP) Akram Aker said troops fired machine guns mounted on tanks and drones. 'They encircled us and started firing directly at us,' he said. Monzer Fesifes, a Palestinian-Jordanian, said his 19-year-old son Hisham was among those killed in the Teina area. 'He went to bring food from the failed US, Zionist aid to feed us,' the father of six said, pleading for the Jordanian government to help evacuate them from the Palestinian enclave. The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 25 bodies, along with dozens of wounded. Seven other people, including one woman, were killed in the Shakoush area, hundreds of yards north of another GHF hub in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, the hospital said. The toll was also confirmed by the health ministry. Dr Mohamed Saker, the head of Nasser's nursing department, said it received 70 wounded people. He told the Associated Press that most of the casualties were shot in the head and chest, and some were placed in the already overwhelmed intensive care unit. 'The situation is difficult and tragic,' he said, adding that the facility lacks medical supplies to treat the daily flow of casualties. Boxes and bags of humanitarian aid delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Gaza's more than two million Palestinians are living through a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, and the territory is on the edge of famine, according to food security experts. Distribution at the GHF sites has often been chaotic. Boxes of food are left stacked on the ground inside the centres and, once opened, crowds charge in to grab whatever they can, according to witnesses and videos released by the GHF. In videos obtained recently by the AP from an American contractor working with the GHF, contractors use tear gas and stun grenades to keep crowds behind metal fences or to force them to disperse. Gunshots can also be heard. Hamas triggered the ongoing 21-month war in Gaza when it stormed into southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. An Israeli military offensive has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, displaced nearly all of Gaza's two million people and caused widespread destruction. Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar in recent weeks, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs.
