Palestinian man dies of malnutrition due to Israeli siege on Gaza
Ayoub Abu al-Hussain died on Monday at the Kuwait Specialised Field Hospital in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Photos and videos published show the 29-year-old man in a skeletal state, with notable weight loss caused by the restrictions on food aid and essentials.
According to a post by the hospital, Ayoub had arrived "lifeless" due to the malnutrition in a "scene that embodies the magnitude of the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip due to the closure of crossings and the ongoing aggression".
"The severe shortage of food and medicine threatens the lives of thousands of citizens, especially children, the elderly, and those with chronic diseases, amid the lack of the most basic necessities of life," the post added.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
In a statement to Anadolu Agency, Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Government Media Office in Gaza, indicated that the death of the young man "represents a tragic and shocking development in the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip due to the criminal Israeli occupation."
"The fact that a young man in the prime of his life has become so emaciated that he has become a skeleton is living proof of the horrific Israeli crime against Palestinians through its deliberate and systematic policy of starvation, which is no longer limited to children alone."
In the ongoing war on Gaza, which genocide scholars and international human rights organisations have unanimously called a "genocide" against the Palestinian people, Israel also has been accused of implementing a policy of starvation in Gaza.
In its assessment in mid-May, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global initiative aimed at enhancing food security and nutrition analysis to inform decisions, wrote that over the next six months, the entirety of Gaza is expected to face what is referred to by experts as "crisis, or worse acute food insecurity".
Israel is starving Gaza to death, and still the world does nothing Read More »
Furthering the shortage of food has been the recently operating US-Israeli aid intiative, that has come under scrutiny for its use of militarised methods to distribute aid and the lack of essentials entering the Gaza Strip.
In a joint statment on Tuesday, more than 130 NGOs have called for immediate action to end the 'deadly' US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid scheme, and revert back to United Nations-led aid coordination mechanisms.
The GHF began operating in late May, following a three-month total blockade on the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces. Since then, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and around 4,000 wounded by Israeli troops while attempting to access food and aid supplies.
'Today Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,' the NGOs said in the statement.
The signatories include Oxfam, Save the Children, Amnesty, Doctors Without Borders and Action Aid.
Thawabta noted that Israel's starvation policy is "comprehensive and targets civilians regardless of their age, while the Israeli occupation army implements it with full awareness and determination, in violation of all humanitarian norms and international laws," calling for urgent action to allow the immediate entry of food and medical supplies
'Dangerous development'
The death of Ayoub, a young adult, has been especially notable and represents a looming threat over the blockaded Strip according to Thawabta.
Most of the victims who have died due to starvation and malnutrition have thus far been children, with the latest victim indicating the "Gaza Strip is facing a dangerous development that could open the door to an increase in this number among adults as well, unless urgent intervention is made" to open the crossings and allow humanitarian essentials into the Strip.
This "shocking situation represents yet another aspect of the genocide to which Palestinians are subjected under siege, and complete deprivation of food and medicine," Thawabta said, considering it "a stain of shame on the brow of the silent and inactive international community.
"While most of the injuries and deaths (from malnutrition) at the beginning of the aggression were among children due to their fragile bodies, the talk now about adults dying from hunger and deprivation proves that the circle of danger has expanded to include everyone without exception."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
34 minutes ago
- The National
From stage to hospital bed: Gaza dabke dancer shot in head while collecting food
Performing on stage brought Ahmed Abo El Khair immense joy. Ever since he was 10, he had been passionate about dabke, the Palestinian folk dance recognised by Unesco as an intangible cultural heritage. Ahmed was a proud and active member of a dabke troupe in Gaza, performing regularly in public. But after being shot in the head while collecting aid at a distribution centre, he was forced off the stage and into a hospital bed. The university student, 20, who was known and loved for his bubbly personality, now lies helpless and frail, staring into the ceiling, almost in disbelief at his current state. The smile on his face and spark in his eyes have vanished. His visible ribs are a testament to his malnutrition. Without proper food and medical treatment, Ahmed cannot recover, his family says. After weeks of near-total starvation, all that remains of him is skin and bones. 'Doctors tell us Ahmed needs proper nutrition to recover, and for his memory to get better, as he has some memory loss, but what can I feed him when there's no food?", his mother, Rana Abo El Khair, told The National. The young Gazan had ventured to an aid centre run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Netzarim to secure food for his family, when he was shot in the head. With deteriorating health centres, the bullet remains lodged in his skull, causing a fracture and internal bleeding. The GHF has faced global criticism and condemnation for its food delivery system. Since May, at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food; 859 in the vicinity of the GHF sites and 514 along the routes of food convoys, the UN said last week. He had made the perilous trip in desperation, amid severe food shortages in the enclave. Aid organisations, human rights groups and a global hunger monitor have warned of mass starvation and famine spreading in Gaza, forcing Palestinians to risk their lives for the smallest amounts of food. Although Ahmed miraculously survived, his condition has deteriorated under Israel's blockade of Gaza. His life has been turned upside down. 'Every passing day, his situation gets worse,' his father, Iyad Abo El Khair, told The National. At least 193 people have now died of starvation – 96 of them children – under Israel 's blockade of the coastal territory, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. International efforts have included food being dropped from the air and aid supplies from the UAE and Jordan, but starvation is increasingly being used as a weapon of war in Gaza, according to the UN. The agency's secretary general Antonio Guterres has described the search for food in the enclave as a ' death sentence '. 'He loved food the most, he loved kaak and maftoul [Palestinian food], and he told me to prepare these foods for him once he got back from the aid centre,' Ahmed's mother said. Instead, his mother received a call at 3am to say her son had been injured. Ahmed was immediately admitted into the intensive care unit and later taken into surgery. Gaza's health sector has been significantly crippled by Israeli attacks and bombardment. UN reports have detailed Israel's deliberate and widespread attacking of Gaza's medical sector and medical staff. 'It was shocking to see my son like this, I have no words to describe it,' his mother said. Despite his circumstances, Ahmed has one word on his lips at all times: 'Alhamdulillah', or thank God, his sister, Doha Abo El Khair, told The National. 'Ahmed loved his life, he was happy, he was content, but he also had plans to travel and study abroad after working hard in school,' his sister said. 'But now his future has gone to waste because of his situation,' she added.
The National
19 hours ago
- The National
Aid lorry overturns and kills 20 in Gaza as UN blames Israel for starving Palestinians
At least 20 people have been killed after an aid lorry overturned on a crowd of people in central Gaza – as condemnation of starvation caused by Israel's blockade grows. Footage posted by the Palestinian Wafa news agency showed dead and injured bodies after the lorry overturned near the Nuseirat refugee camp on Wednesday. It is the latest in a string of tragedies to affect aid seekers. Gaza's civil defence agency spokesperson, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP that the lorry was driving on an unsafe road that Israel had previously bombed. Hamas has accused Israel of forcing lorry drivers to take dangerous routes to reach aid distribution centres and says it is aimed at 'engineering' starvation and chaos. Israel 'forces drivers to navigate routes overcrowded with starving civilians who have been waiting for weeks for the most basic necessities,' Hamas's media office said in a statement. Israel's government maintains it is not to blame for harrowing images of emaciated children in Gaza begging for food, or crying at some of the last remaining charity kitchens for a spoonful of beans. It says there are unused aid supplies in Gaza and accuses Hamas and the UN of preventing their delivery. But an Israeli blockade on the enclave has made the delivery of supplies almost impossible. The UAE and Jordan are among several countries carrying out airdrops of aid in an attempt to provide some humanitarian relief in the Gaza Strip, where warnings of a famine are on the rise. The Gaza Health Ministry said five more Palestinians have died of malnutrition and starvation in the past 24 hours. This brings the number of those who have died from hunger during the conflict to 193, including 96 children, the ministry added. Members of the UN Security Council have blamed Israel for starving Palestinians in Gaza after imposing a two-month blockade on all food and medical assistance and condemned reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to reoccupy Gaza, calling them 'deeply alarming' if true. The UN comments were made at an emergency meeting called for by Israel, after seeing footage of their hostages emaciated. At the meeting, Algeria's Ambassador to the UN, Amar Bendjama, held a picture of a malnourished child towards Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. UN assistant secretary general Miroslav Jenca told the Security Council that reoccupying the whole of Gaza 'would risk catastrophic consequences … and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages'. The comments came after Israeli media reported that Mr Netanyahu is now pushing for a complete takeover of the enclave. Before the UN Security Council met on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said the US was focused on bringing food into the enclave. He was responding to a question about whether he would support Israel reoccupying all of Gaza. 'As far as the rest of it, I really can't say. That's going to be pretty much up to Israel,' he said, in comments that distance the US from Israel's military plans for Gaza. At the UN meeting, Mr Saar accused Russia and other council members, as well as the international media, of perpetuating 'so many lies' regarding the situation in Gaza – particularly on starvation. British Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward said the UK supported the release of hostages but said that their suffering and that of Palestinian civilians in Gaza had sunk to new depths. She blamed Israel for the situation, saying that it is Israel's aid restrictions that have led to a famine – as declared by the IPC hunger monitor last week. Ms Woodward said she spoke to doctors last week who had served in Gaza and had seen children so malnourished that 'their wounds festered for months without healing'. The doctors also saw baby formula confiscated by the Israeli military, she said. Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea reiterated Mr Trump's recognition of the 'real starvation' in Gaza. On the same day, Mr Trump said: 'Israel is going to help us with that in terms of distribution and also money. 'Arab states are also going to help us with that in terms of money and possibly distribution.' He stated his primary focus was feeding people in Gaza 'who are obviously not doing too well with the food.' When asked by reporters about Israeli plans to take over the entire enclave, he said it was 'pretty much going to be up to Israel'.
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Middle East Eye
Israel kills 81 Palestinians since dawn on Tuesday
Gaza health officials said that 81 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since dawn on Tuesday. More than half - 57 - were seeking aid when they were shot by Israeli soldiers.
