WHO says malnutrition reaching 'alarming levels' in Gaza
"Malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July," the WHO said in a statement, adding: "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's World Food Programme said a third of the population of Gaza had not eaten for days, and 470,000 people were "enduring famine-like conditions" that were already leading to deaths.
Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz joined the chorus of concern on Sunday, urging Israel "to provide the starving civilian population in Gaza with urgently needed humanitarian aid now."
Since Israel imposed a total blockade on aid entering Gaza on March 2, the situation inside the territory has deteriorated sharply. More than 100 NGOs warned this week of "mass starvation".
Though aid has trickled back in since late May, the UN and humanitarian agencies say Israeli restrictions remain excessive and road access inside Gaza is tightly controlled.
Egyptian state-linked media on Sunday reported that aid trucks had begun entering the Gaza Strip as Israel announced a "tactical pause" in parts of the devastated territory to allow deliveries.
"Egyptian aid trucks begin to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing," Al-Qahera News posted on X, alongside footage of aid convoys moving in the border area.
In Gaza City's Tel Al Hawa district, 30-year-old Suad Ishtaywi said her "life's wish" was to simply feed her children. She spoke of her husband returning empty-handed from aid points daily.
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Jordan Times
3 hours ago
- Jordan Times
Jordanian field hospital in southern Gaza performs life-changing surgeries for children — JAF
AMMAN — Medical teams at the Jordanian field hospital in southern Gaza have successfully performed a series of specialised surgical procedures on infants and toddlers suffering from congenital deformities, including cleft palates and cleft lips. The patients ranged in age from just three months to three years, according to a statement from the Jordan Armed Forces- Arab Army (JAF), which added that the operations were conducted as part of the army's ongoing humanitarian mission to support the people of Gaza. The hospital's commanding officer was quoted in the statement as saying that the procedures were carried out by highly skilled medical and nursing staff with extensive expertise in complex pediatric surgeries. A senior specialist in maxillofacial surgery said, 'The children suffer from severe feeding difficulties and malnutrition, relying solely on formula milk, which puts enormous strain on their families.' The specialist noted that many children had been deprived of early intervention due to the lack of qualified personnel in the region and the challenging conditions on the ground. In an effort to build local capacity, the specialist said that doctors from Nasser Medical Complex [in Gaza] were trained in the field hospital's operating room to help manage similar cases in the future. 'The severity of the cases ranged from moderate to severe, including diagnoses such as wide bilateral cleft palates and full cleft lips. Treatment was further complicated by delays in preoperative care, as families struggled to access medical services amid ongoing instability in the region.' Jordan runs two military field hospitals in Gaza - one in the Strip's north and was established in 2009 following the war in 2008 and the second is in Khan Younis in the south, which was established in November 2023 at the peak of the Israeli war of aggression on the coastal enclave that erupted on October 7, 2023. Besides the field hospitals in Gaza, the JAF established the Jordanian field hospital in Nablus in late November 2023 and has conducted over 900 surgeries and received more than 83,000 patients ever since. The Kingdom, in cooperation with the World Central Kitchen, has also dispatched a mobile bakery with a production capacity of 3,500 loaves of bread per hour to Gaza. Other humanitarian programmes include the land and air bridges for aid delivery, the Restoring Hope Initiative, which provides prosthetics for amputees, and the evacuation of critical cases to Jordanian hospitals. Jordan remains steadfast in its commitment to alleviating the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza through all available means, the statement said.
Jordan Times
a day ago
- Jordan Times
Jordan receives ninth group of 15 Gaza child patients under medical corridor initiative
DEAD SEA — Jordan on Wednesday received a new group of child patients and their family companions evacuated from Gaza as part of the Jordan Medical Corridor initiative. The latest batch, the ninth since the programme began, included 15 child patients and 43 accompanying family members. The group arrived on August 6, 2025, despite persistent challenges related to the situation on the ground in Gaza, according to a Royal Court statement. Since the launch of the initiative on March 4, 2025, Jordan has evacuated a total of 439 individuals, including 134 patients and 303 family members, in cooperation with the World Health Organisation (WHO). The initiative was announced by His Majesty King Abdullah, during a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on February 11, 2025, to treat 2,000 child patients from Gaza in successive stages. The patients would be received at top public and private hospitals, where they undergo high-quality medical treatment. Once their treatment is complete, they and their companions return to Gaza, the statement said. Officials stressed that despite Jordan's commitment to expanding and accelerating the evacuation process, logistical constraints facing the WHO, coupled with Israeli restrictions and security concerns, continue to hinder transfers. "Ongoing Israeli military operations had complicated efforts to ensure the safe transfer of patients and their families to and within assembly points." Jordan has also coordinated the evacuation of child patients to other countries for treatment, as part of wider international humanitarian efforts, the statement said. The Jordan Medical Corridor is one of several ongoing initiatives launched by the Kingdom to support the people of Gaza. Jordan runs two military field hospitals in Gaza, one in the Strip's north, which was established in 2009 following the war in 2008. The second was established in Khan Younis in the south in November 2023 at the peak of the Israeli war of aggression on the coastal enclave that erupted on October 7, 2023. Besides the field hospitals in Gaza, the JAF established the Jordanian field hospital in Nablus in late November 2023 and has conducted over 900 surgeries and received more than 83,000 patients ever since. The Kingdom, in cooperation with the World Central Kitchen, has also dispatched a mobile bakery with a production capacity of 3,500 loaves of bread per hour to Gaza. Other humanitarian programmes include the land and air bridges for aid delivery, the Restoring Hope Initiative, which provides prosthetics for amputees, and the evacuation of critical cases to Jordanian hospitals. Jordan remains steadfast in its commitment to alleviating the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza through all available means, the statement said.
Al Bawaba
4 days ago
- Al Bawaba
'No Special Treatment': Hamas sets terms as Netanyahu begs red cross for hostage aid
ALBAWABA - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been officially asked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help Israeli prisoners being held in Gaza by getting them food and medical care right away. This was done after troubling video footage showed that the prisoners' health was getting worse, especially the hostages Avitar David and Rom Braslavsky, who looked like they were seriously starved because of Gaza's growing humanitarian crisis. Netanyahu asked Julian Lirisson, who is in charge of the ICRC in Israel and the Palestinian areas, to let the prisoners be helped right away. He said that Hamas was behind a worldwide effort to spread false information about hunger in Gaza, saying that "our hostages are actually starving because they are being brutally abused physically and mentally." But quickly, Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of Hamas, said through Abu Ubaida that they were ready to let the Red Cross deliver aid to the Israeli hostages—as long as Israel agreed to permanently open humanitarian corridors and stop attacking from the air while the aid was being delivered. Abu Ubaida made it clear that the prisoners are not being intentionally starved, but are simply living in the same difficult conditions as Hamas soldiers and the rest of the Palestinian people. "They eat what our fighters and people eat," he said, making it clear that the resistance would not give special treatment to them while more than two million people in Gaza are under lockdown. The statement also said that Israel's constant bombings and failure to allow regular entry for humanitarian groups have made things worse in Gaza and made it harder to help. ❗️Hamas is READY to deliver food to hostages with Red Cross On the condition that Israel allow 'food and medicine to ALL our people' in Gaza Evitar David's fate is back in Netanyahu's hands August 3, 2025 Families want a deal. Families of the hostages protested in Tel Aviv and asked the Netanyahu government to quickly come up with a way for their loved ones to be freed. The families were furious that the government had kept up the war and not been able to free the hostages, calling promises of a military answer a "deceptive illusion." Israeli media say that a lot of family members think that the only way to move forward is to negotiate a full exchange deal that stops the war and gets the prisoners home. Israel thinks that about 50 of its people are still being held captive in Gaza, and that about 20 of them are still living. Meanwhile, more than 10,800 Palestinians are being held in Israeli jails, where they are said to be tortured, starved, and not getting enough medical care. Many of them have died, according to reports from Palestinian and Israeli rights groups. Negotiations Held Up and Hamas's Offer Recent talks in Doha, which were handled by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the U.S., fell apart because Israel wouldn't change its mind about wanting to keep troops in Gaza, wouldn't end the war, and wouldn't accept key relief supplies. Hamas has said again that it is ready to free all Israeli hostages at once, but only if there is an end to the fighting, Israel leaves Gaza, and Palestinian prisoners are freed. But Netanyahu has kept adding new conditions, like silencing Palestinian groups and reclaiming control over Gaza, which make any possible deal even less likely. As pressure builds up at home and around the world, the humanitarian situation keeps getting worse. Hostages and bystanders are taking the brunt of the long-running war.
