Dozens of Palestinians die of malnutrition in two days
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RNZ News
6 days ago
- RNZ News
Food airdropped into Gaza as Israel says opening aid routes
Two Jordanian and one Emirati plane on dropped 25 tonnes of humanitarian aid over the Gaza Strip, Jordanian state television reported on 27 July. Israel also parachuted food aid, and trucks of flour were seen arriving in northern Gaza through a crossing from Israel, according to AFP journalists. Photo: AFP / Bashar Taleb Jordanian and Emirati planes dropped food into Gaza as Israel began a limited "tactical pause" in some military operations to allow the UN and aid agencies to tackle a deepening hunger crisis. The Palestinian territory is gripped by dire humanitarian conditions created by 21 months of war and made worse by Israel's total blockade of aid from March to May. Since the easing of the blockade, the levels of aid reaching Gaza have been far below what aid groups say is needed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted his government was not to blame for the dire situation and lashed out at the UN. The Israeli military dismissed allegations that it had been using starvation as a weapon, saying it had coordinated with the UN and international agencies to "increase the scale of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip". A Palestinian boy reacts as he carries a bag of flour in the al-Mawasi camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, that was picked up from the Rafah corridor on 27 July 2025. Photo: AFP The World Health Organisation warned on Sunday that malnutrition was reaching "alarming levels" in Gaza. It said that of the 74 recorded malnutrition-related deaths in 2025, 63 had occurred in July -- including 24 children aged under five, one child older than five, and 38 adults. "Most of these people were declared dead on arrival at health facilities or died shortly after, their bodies showing clear signs of severe wasting," the UN health agency said. "The crisis remains entirely preventable. Deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health and humanitarian aid has cost many lives." The UN's World Food Programme said a third of the population of Gaza had not eaten for days, and 470,000 were "enduring famine-like conditions". UN emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher welcomed Israel's tactical pauses, saying his teams "will do all we can to reach as many starving people as we can in this window". People walk with sacks of flour delivered after trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered northern Gaza on 27 July, 2025 coming from the Zikim border crossing. Photo: AFP / Bashar Taleb The Israeli decision came as international pressure mounted on Netanyahu to prevent mass starvation in the territory. Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz joined the chorus of concern on Sunday, urging the Israeli premier "to provide the starving civilian population in Gaza with urgently needed humanitarian aid now". Accusing the UN of fabricating "pretexts and lies about Israel" blocking aid, Netanyahu said in remarks at an airbase that "there are secure routes" for aid. "There have always been, but today it's official. There will be no more excuses," he added. The situation inside the territory deteriorated sharply after Israel imposed its total blockade on aid in March. It later eased the blockade, but sidelined the UN and major aid agencies and instead relied on a newly created, US-backed private foundation. Aid groups refused to work with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, accusing it of furthering Israel's military goals, while hundreds of people have been killed attempting to reach its sites. The Jordanian military said its planes, working with the United Arab Emirates, had delivered 25 tonnes of aid in three parachute drops over Gaza on Sunday. The Israeli military also said it had conducted a drop, parachuting seven pallets of aid into the territory. Truckloads of flour were also seen arriving in northern Gaza through the Zikim area crossing from Israel, according to AFP journalists. AFP correspondents also saw trucks crossing from Egypt, heading for Israeli inspection before entering Gaza. The charity Oxfam's regional policy chief Bushra Khalidi called Israel's latest moves a "welcome first step" but warned they were insufficient. "Starvation won't be solved by a few trucks or airdrops," she said. "What's needed is a real humanitarian response: ceasefire, full access, all crossings open and a steady, large-scale flow of aid into Gaza. "We need a permanent ceasefire, a complete lifting of the siege." In general, humanitarian officials are deeply sceptical that airdrops can deliver enough food safely to tackle the hunger crisis facing Gaza's more than two million inhabitants. Gazans watch as a military plane flies over during an aid drop in the northern Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP / Bashar Taleb In Gaza City's Tel el-Hawa district, 30-year-old Suad Ishtaywi said her "life's wish" was simply to feed her children. She spoke of her husband returning empty-handed from each day from aid points. There were chaotic scenes at the site where Israel conducted its first food drop, witnesses told AFP. Samih Humeid, a 23-year-old from the Al-Karama neighbourhood of Gaza City, said dozens of people had gathered to rush towards the parachuted supplies. "It felt like a war, everyone trying to grab whatever they could. Hunger is merciless. The quantities were extremely limited, not enough even for a few people, because hunger is everywhere. I only managed to get three cans of fava beans," he said. The Israeli army's daily pause from 10am to 8pm will be limited to areas where its troops are not currently operating -- Al-Mawasi in the south, Deir el-Balah in the centre and Gaza City in the north. Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, citing "reasonable grounds" to suspect war crimes including starvation - charges Israel vehemently denies. On Sunday, according to the Gaza civil defence agency, Israeli army fire killed 27 Palestinians, 12 of them near aid distribution areas. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties. Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The Israeli campaign has killed 59,733 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. - AFP
RNZ News
25-07-2025
- RNZ News
Gaza running out of specialised food to save malnourished children
By Olivia Le Poidevin , Charlotte Greenfield and Jennifer Rigby Maryam, a 26-year-old Palestinian mother, cradles her malnourished 40-day-old son Mahmoud as they await treatment at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on 24 July, 2025. Photo: AFP Gaza is on the brink of running out of the specialised 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 (local time), 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 3000 children. In the first two weeks of July alone, UNICEF treated 5000 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 Organisation spokesperson said on Thursday. The WHO said that a programme 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 organisations 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 organisations 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, 3247 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. - Reuters
Otago Daily Times
25-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Gaza running out of specialised food to save malnourished children
Gaza is on the brink of running out of the specialised 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 said, 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 3000 children. In the first two weeks of July alone, UNICEF treated 5000 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 today. The WHO said that a programme 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 organisations 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 organisations 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, 3247 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.
