Gaza mothers starving, infant deaths reach critical levels: UN
In a statement shared by UNFPA's Arab States Regional Office on X, the agency revealed that approximately 50,000 women in Gaza 'haven't eaten for days.' Malnourishment is preventing mothers from breastfeeding, while baby formula remains unavailable due to ongoing shortages. This has resulted in a spike in premature and underweight births.
'Babies are born too soon, too small,' the post read. 'Newborns are at risk of death or lifelong health issues.'
50,000 pregnant & breastfeeding women in #Gaza haven't eaten for days.Babies are born too soon, too small.Mothers are too malnourished to breastfeed — & formula is gone.Newborns are at risk of death or lifelong health issues.This is preventable. #OpenUpGaza Let aid in. pic.twitter.com/WiGmv1FGUCLabeling the crisis as preventable, UNFPA called for immediate humanitarian access, urging: '#OpenUpGaza Let aid in.'
UN agencies continue to report severe restrictions on humanitarian access, compounding the suffering of women, children, and other vulnerable groups. Aid organizations have consistently appealed for unimpeded delivery of essential life-saving assistance.
Since the genocide began in October 2023, nearly 57,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli occupation forces, the majority of whom are women and children. Constant bombardment has devastated infrastructure, triggered famine-like conditions, and contributed to the spread of disease.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Security Minister Yoav Gallant over charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Separately, "Israel" is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) released new data this week pointing to a drastic increase in child mortality across Gaza. According to a retrospective mortality survey conducted by its epidemiological unit, Epicentre, the death rate for children under five has increased tenfold since the war began.
The survey covered 2,523 individuals, including MSF staff and their families. It found that the overall death rate was five times higher than pre-war levels, while mortality among newborns under one month rose sixfold.
'The children of Gaza are being decimated,' said Amande Bazerolle, deputy manager of MSF's emergency department. 'Forty-eight percent of the people who died from blast injuries among our colleagues' households were children, and 40 percent were under 10 years old.'
According to the report, over 2% of those surveyed have died since October 7, 2023, and 7% have sustained injuries. Around 75% of deaths were war-related, mainly due to explosions.
The survey also underscored the collapse of Gaza's healthcare system. Two-thirds of chronically ill patients reported interruptions in treatment. Even among MSF families, who had relatively better access to care, 20% experienced at least one injury from blasts or gunfire within their household.
'This is the result of the Israeli campaign to systematically destroy the health system and the means of survival of the whole population,' MSF stated.
The organization called on "Israel" to halt what it described as a 'genocidal campaign,' lift the blockade, and enable urgent medical evacuations, particularly for children.
Read more: 'Skin and bones': Gaza's infants starve under Israeli siege
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nahar Net
12 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Dozens killed seeking aid in Gaza as Israel considers further military action
by Naharnet Newsdesk 06 August 2025, 17:31 At least 38 Palestinians were killed overnight and into Wednesday in the Gaza Strip while seeking aid from United Nations convoys and sites run by an Israeli-backed American contractor, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots when crowds approached its forces. The latest deaths came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to announced further military action — and possibly plans for Israel to fully reoccupy Gaza. Experts say Israel's ongoing military offensive and blockade are already pushing the territory of some 2 million Palestinians into famine. Another escalation of the nearly 22-month war could put the lives of countless Palestinians and around 20 living Israeli hostages at risk, and would draw fierce opposition both internationally and within Israel. Netanyahu's far-right coalition allies have long called for the war to be expanded, and for Israel to eventually take over Gaza, relocate much of its population and rebuild Jewish settlements there. U.S. President Donald Trump, asked by a reporter Tuesday whether he supported the reoccupation of Gaza, said he wasn't aware of the "suggestion" but that "it's going to be pretty much up to Israel." More Palestinians killed in scramble for food At least 28 Palestinians were killed overnight and into Wednesday in the Morag Corridor, an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where U.N. convoys have been repeatedly overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds in recent days, and where witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire. The Israeli military said troops fired warning shots as Palestinians advanced toward them, and that it was not aware of any casualties. Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, said another four people were killed in the Teina area, on a route leading to a site in southern Gaza run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor. The Al-Awda Hospital said it received the bodies of six people killed near a GHF site in central Gaza. Another 12 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to the two hospitals. GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because its militants are entrenched in heavily populated areas. UN experts say Israeli-backed aid group should be dismantled Israel facilitated the establishment of four GHF sites in May after blocking the entry of all food, medicine and other goods for 2 1/2 months. Israeli and U.S. officials said a new system was needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off humanitarian aid. The United Nations, which has delivered aid to hundreds of distribution points across Gaza throughout the war when conditions allow, has rejected the new system, saying it forces Palestinians to travel long distances and risk their lives for food, and that it allows Israel to control who gets aid, potentially using it to advance plans for further mass displacement. The U.N. human rights office said last week that some 1,400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid since May, mostly near GHF sites but also along U.N. convoy routes where trucks have been overwhelmed by crowds. It says nearly all were killed by Israeli fire. This week, a group of U.N. special rapporteurs and independent human rights experts called for the GHF to be disbanded, saying it is "an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law." The experts work with the U.N. but do not represent the world body. The GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots when crowds threatened its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray and fired into the air on some occasions to prevent deadly crowding at its sites. Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible for anyone to safely deliver aid, and aid groups say recent Israeli measures to facilitate more assistance are far from sufficient. Hospitals recorded four more malnutrition-related deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 193 people, including 96 children, since the war began in October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Jordan says aid convoy attacked by Israeli settlers Jordan said Israeli settlers blocked roads and hurled stones at a convoy of four trucks carrying aid bound for Gaza after they drove across the border into the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli far-right activists have repeatedly sought to halt aid from entering Gaza. Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammed al-Momani condemned the attack, which he said had shattered the windshields of the trucks, according to the Jordanian state-run Petra News Agency. The Israeli military said security forces went to the scene to disperse the gathering and accompanied the trucks to their destination. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted another 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Of the 50 still held in Gaza, around 20 are believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. It is part of the now largely defunct Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source for the number of war casualties.
LBCI
4 days ago
- LBCI
Al Qahera News: Two fuel trucks to enter Gaza
Egypt's state-run Al Qahera News reported on Sunday that two fuel trucks carrying up to 107 tons of fuel are set to enter Gaza, following months of Israeli-imposed restrictions on the entry of goods and aid into the enclave. The Health Ministry in Gaza has repeatedly warned that fuel shortages are crippling hospital operations. It remains unclear whether the two trucks have entered the territory. Reuters
L'Orient-Le Jour
29-07-2025
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Palestinian death toll from Israeli military offensive in Gaza surpasses 60,000
Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 60,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023, the enclave's health ministry said, a conflict that has devastated the coastal territory and triggered a humanitarian crisis. Most of the Palestinians killed are civilians, according to the enclave's health authorities. The ministry said on Tuesday that the number of injured is 145,870, while thousands remain missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings and areas. The war began after Gaza's dominant Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a cross-border attack on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. Israel's subsequent air and ground campaign has leveled entire neighbourhoods in Gaza, displaced most of the population of 2.3 million, and pushed the enclave to the brink of famine, according to the United Nations. Israel says its operations are aimed at dismantling Hamas' military capabilities and securing the release of hostages. The military says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters in Gaza and destroyed hundreds of kilometers of tunnels used by the militants. The fighting has drawn international condemnation and calls for a cease-fire, with global aid agencies warning of a collapse of essential services and rampant outbreaks of disease. The latest round of indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and Hamas broke off last week with no deal in sight. Humanitarian catastrophe Much of Gaza has been devastated during over 21 months of conflict, raising concerns about worsening starvation. Israel says Hamas is to blame for harm to civilians throughout the war, because its fighters operate among them, which the militants deny. It says it has allowed enough food into Gaza, and blames the United Nations for failing to distribute it. The U.N. says it has operated as effectively as possible under severe restrictions imposed by Israel. Palestinian health officials have warned that hundreds of people could soon perish as hospitals are overwhelmed with patients experiencing dizziness and exhaustion amid severe food shortages and a breakdown in aid deliveries. The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, said that its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion. After images of starving Palestinians alarmed the world in recent weeks, Israel announced on Sunday a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and new aid corridors. Aid trucks began moving towards Gaza from Egypt, while Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped supplies into the enclave.
