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MSF says quarter of Gaza's young children malnourished

MSF says quarter of Gaza's young children malnourished

LBCI4 days ago
MSF said Friday that a quarter of all young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened at its clinics in Gaza last week were malnourished, blaming Israel's "policy of starvation."
The medical charity known by its French acronym MSF said that "across screenings of children aged six months to five years old and pregnant and breastfeeding women at MSF facilities last week, 25 percent were malnourished," warning that "rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have tripled in the last two weeks alone."
AFP
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Over 60,000 Palestinians have died in 21-month Gaza war
Over 60,000 Palestinians have died in 21-month Gaza war

Nahar Net

time9 hours ago

  • Nahar Net

Over 60,000 Palestinians have died in 21-month Gaza war

by Naharnet Newsdesk 29 July 2025, 15:28 Over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 21-month Israel-Hamas war, Gaza's Health Ministry said Tuesday. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, said the death toll has climbed to to 60,034, with another 145,870 people wounded since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. It did not say how many were civilians or militants, but has said women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel's offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90% of the population and caused to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine. At least 77 Palestinians killed in past day As international organizations warn of a "worst-case scenario of famine," Israel continued to strike the Gaza Strip, killing at least 77 Palestinians in the past day, according to local hospitals. More than half were killed while attempting to access aid, hospitals said, and includes a rising toll from a deadly incident on Monday as people attempted to access aid from a truck convoy passing through the southern Gaza Strip. Local hospitals said they received the bodies of an additional 33 people who were killed by gunfire around an aid convoy in southern Gaza on Monday, bringing the total from the single incident to 58. The Israeli military did not comment on the shooting. Israel says it only targets militants and takes extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in populated areas. The military said it targeted Hamas military infrastructure over the past day including rocket launchers, weapons storage facilities and tunnels. An additional 14 Palestinians were killed while attempting to access aid near the American and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund site in central Gaza, according to local hospitals. Neither GHF nor the Israeli military commented on the shooting. Israel's military has said in the past it only fires warning shots if troops feel threatened and GHF has said their contractors haven't fired at civilians. Air strikes also targeted tents hosting displaced people in the central city of Nuseirat, killing 30 people, including 12 children and 14 women, according to Al-Awda hospital. The strikes come as international organizations continue to warn about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, which has teetered on the brink of famine for two years. Recent developments have "dramatically worsened" the situation, according to a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC. Israel rejects claims of 'starvation policies' Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar on Tuesday rejected claims of "starvation policies" in Gaza and said the focus on starvation is a "distorted campaign of international pressure." "This pressure is directly sabotaging the chances for a ceasefire and hostage deal, it is only pushing towards military escalation by hardening Hamas's stance," he said. The U.S. and Israel have both recalled their negotiating teams over the past week as negotiations seem to have stalled. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the attack that sparked the war, and abducted another 251. They are still holding 50 captives, around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. The war took a major turn in early March when Israel imposed a complete 2 ½ month blockade, barring the entry of all food, medicine, fuel and other goods. Weeks later, Israel ended a ceasefire with a surprise bombardment and began seizing large areas of Gaza, measures it said were aimed at pressuring Hamas to release more hostages. At least 8,867 Palestinians have been killed since then. Israel eased the blockade in May, but U.N. agencies say it hasn't allowed nearly enough aid to enter and that they have struggled to deliver it because of Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order. An alternative Israeli-backed system run by an American contractor has been marred by violence and controversy. Gutted health system, daily strikes and a hunger crisis Near-daily Israeli strikes have hit schools, shelters, hospitals and other civilian buildings, killing men, women and children. The military usually says it was targeting militants hiding out among civilians, while occasionally acknowledging mistakes. Israel's offensive and its blockade have also gutted Gaza's health system, with several hospitals having shut down and others only partially functioning as they receive waves of war-wounded. The hunger crisis has also taken its toll. The World Health Organization says more than 60 people have died this month from malnutrition-related causes, including 24 children under five. Overall, 88 children died of causes related to malnutrition since the start of the war, and 58 adults died this month also malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. During hunger crises, people can die from malnutrition or from common illnesses or injuries that the body is not strong enough to fight. The ministry doesn't include hunger-related deaths in its overall toll.

Aid groups warn of starving children as European powers discuss Gaza
Aid groups warn of starving children as European powers discuss Gaza

L'Orient-Le Jour

time4 days ago

  • L'Orient-Le Jour

Aid groups warn of starving children as European powers discuss Gaza

Aid groups warned of surging numbers of malnourished children in war-ravaged Gaza as a trio of European powers prepared to hold an "emergency call" Friday on the deepening humanitarian crisis. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that a quarter of the young children and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers it had screened at its clinics last week were malnourished, a day after the United Nations said one in five children in Gaza City were suffering from malnutrition. With fears of mass starvation growing, Britain, France and Germany were set to hold an emergency call to push for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and discuss steps towards Palestinian statehood. "I will hold an emergency call with E3 partners tomorrow, where we will discuss what we can do urgently to stop the killing and get people the food they desperately need while pulling together all the steps necessary to build a lasting peace," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. The call comes after hopes of a new cease-fire in Gaza faded on Thursday when Israel and the United States quit indirect negotiations with Hamas in Qatar. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff accused the Palestinian militant group of not "acting in good faith". President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France would formally recognize a Palestinian state in September, drawing a furious rebuke from Israel. More than 100 aid and human rights groups warned this week that "mass starvation" was spreading in Gaza. Israel has rejected accusations it is responsible for the deepening crisis, which the World Health Organization has called "man-made". Israel placed the Gaza Strip under an aid blockade in March, which it only partially eased two months later. The trickle of aid since then has been controlled by the Israeli- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, replacing the longstanding U.N.-led distribution system. Aid groups have refused to work with it, accusing it of aiding Israeli military goals. The GHF system, in which Gazans have to travel long distances and join huge queues to reach one of four sites, has often proved deadly, with the U.N. saying that more than 750 Palestinian aid-seekers have been killed by Israeli forces near GHF centres since late May. An AFP photographer saw bloodied patients, wounded while attempting to get humanitarian aid, being treated on the floor of Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis on Thursday. Israel has refused to return to the U.N.-led system, saying that it allowed Hamas to hijack aid for its own benefit. Accusing Israel of the "weaponization of food", MSF said that: "Across screenings of children aged six months to five years old and pregnant and breastfeeding women, at MSF facilities last week, 25 per cent were malnourished." It said malnutrition cases had quadrupled since May 18 at its Gaza City clinic and that the facility was enrolling 25 new patients every day. Aid groups and medics have also warned that a lack of food is preventing the sick and wounded from recovering. 'High risk of dying' On Thursday, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said that one in five children in Gaza City were malnourished. Agency chief Philippe Lazzarini said: "Most children our teams are seeing are emaciated, weak and at high risk of dying if they don't get the treatment they urgently need." He also warned that "UNRWA frontline health workers, are surviving on one small meal a day, often just lentils, if at all". Lazzarini said that the agency had "the equivalent of 6,000 loaded trucks of food and medical supplies" ready to send into Gaza if Israel allowed "unrestricted and uninterrupted" access to the territory. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,587 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Hamas's October 2023 attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

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