logo
Gaza hospital says 21 children died from malnutrition and starvation in 72 hours

Gaza hospital says 21 children died from malnutrition and starvation in 72 hours

Al Arabiya4 days ago
The head of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday said that 21 children had died across the Palestinian territory in the past three days 'due to malnutrition and starvation.'
'These deaths were recorded at hospitals in Gaza, including Al-Shifa in Gaza City, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah and Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis... over the past 72 hours,' Mohammed Abu Salmiya told reporters.
Developing
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

The latest child to starve to death in Gaza weighed less than when she was born
The latest child to starve to death in Gaza weighed less than when she was born

Arab News

time21 minutes ago

  • Arab News

The latest child to starve to death in Gaza weighed less than when she was born

The girl had weighed over 3 kilograms when she was born, her mother saidWhen she died, she weighed less than 2 kilogramsKHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: A mother pressed a final kiss to what remained of her 5-month-old daughter and wept. Esraa Abu Halib's baby now weighed less than when she was a sunny street in shattered Gaza, the bundle containing Zainab Abu Halib represented the latest death from starvation after 21 months of war and Israeli restrictions on baby was brought to the pediatric department of Nasser Hospital on Friday. She was already dead. A worker at the morgue carefully removed her Mickey Mouse-printed shirt, pulling it over her sunken, open eyes. He pulled up the hems of her pants to show her knobby knees. His thumb was wider than her ankle. He could count the bones of her girl had weighed over 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) when she was born, her mother said. When she died, she weighed less than 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds).A doctor said it was a case of 'severe, severe starvation.'She was wrapped in a white sheet for burial and placed on the sandy ground for prayers. The bundle was barely wider than the imam's stance. He raised his open hands and invoked Allah once needed special formulaZainab was one of 85 children to die of malnutrition-related causes in Gaza in the past three weeks, according to the latest toll released by the territory's Health Ministry on Saturday. Another 42 adults died of malnutrition-related causes in the same period, it said.'She needed a special baby formula which did not exist in Gaza,' Zainab's father, Ahmed Abu Halib, told The Associated Press as he prepared for her funeral prayers in the hospital's courtyard in the southern city of Khan Ahmed Al-Farah, head of the pediatric department, said the girl had needed a special type of formula that helps with babies allergic to cow's said she hadn't suffered from any diseases, but the lack of the formula led to chronic diarrhea and vomiting. She wasn't able to swallow as her weakened immune system led to a bacterial infection and sepsis, and quickly lost more weight.'Many will follow'The child's family, like many of Gaza's Palestinians, lives in a tent, displaced. Her mother, who also has suffered from malnutrition, said she breastfed the girl for only six weeks before trying to feed her formula.'With my daughter's death, many will follow,' she said. 'Their names are on a list that no one looks at. They are just names and numbers. We are just numbers. Our children, whom we carried for nine months and then gave birth to, have become just numbers.' Her loose robe hid her own weight arrival of children suffering from malnutrition has surged in recent weeks, Al-Farah said. His department, with a capacity of eight beds, has been treating about 60 cases of acute malnutrition. They have placed additional mattresses on the malnutrition clinic, affiliated with the hospital, receives an average of 40 cases weekly, he said.'Unless the crossings are opened and food and baby formula are allowed in for this vulnerable segment of Palestinian society, we will witness unprecedented numbers of deaths,' he and aid workers in Gaza blame Israel's restrictions on the entry of aid and medical supplies. Food security experts warn of famine in the territory of over 2 million people.'Shortage of everything'After ending the latest ceasefire in March, Israel cut off the entry of food, medicine, fuel and other supplies completely to Gaza for 2 ½ months, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release international pressure, Israel slightly eased the blockade in May. Since then, it has allowed in around 4,500 trucks for the UN and other aid groups to distribute, including 2,500 tons of baby food and high-calorie special food for children, Israel's Foreign Ministry said last week. Israel says baby formula has been included, plus formula for special average of 69 trucks a day, however, is far below the 500 to 600 trucks a day the UN says are needed for Gaza. The UN says it has been unable to distribute much of the aid because hungry crowds and gangs take most of it from its arriving Israel has backed the US-registered Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which in May opened four centers distributing boxes of food supplies. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near those new aid sites, the UN human rights office of Gaza's population now relies on aid.'There was a shortage of everything,' the mother of Zainab said as she grieved. 'How can a girl like her recover?'

Aid groups sue Belgium to do more to stop Israel's war in Gaza
Aid groups sue Belgium to do more to stop Israel's war in Gaza

Arab News

timea day ago

  • Arab News

Aid groups sue Belgium to do more to stop Israel's war in Gaza

BRUSSELS: Two Belgian aid groups launched a court case on Friday seeking to pressure the country to do more to help stop Israel's war in Gaza, as the EU struggles to take action. Belgium has been one of the most outspoken of the EU's 27 countries in seeking to call out Israel over its devastating military operation in Gaza. The EU's top diplomat floated a raft of options after Israel was found to have breached a cooperation agreement with the EU on human rights grounds. But the bloc's member states are deeply divided over their approach to the conflict. • The two organizations behind the court case are pushing for Belgium to try to unilaterally halt the EU's cooperation deal with Israel. • They are also demanding other steps, including the closure of the country's airspace for any flights taking military equipment to Tel Aviv. The two organizations behind the court case — the Belgian-Palestinian Association and National Coordination for Peace and Democracy — are pushing for Belgium to try to unilaterally halt the EU's cooperation deal with Israel. They are also demanding other steps, including the closure of the country's airspace for any flights taking military equipment to Israel. 'Unless there is a sudden change, the European Union will not be able to suspend the association agreement with Israel,' Vincent Letellier, a lawyer representing the NGOs said — alluding to the bloc's divisions. 'Countries must now be put under pressure by their voters and by the courts.' A preliminary hearing in the case was held before a judge in Brussels on Friday and full proceedings were scheduled for Sept. 15. International criticism of Israel is growing over the plight of the more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 100 aid and rights groups have warned that 'mass starvation' is spreading. Aid groups warned of surging numbers of malnourished children in the enclave as a trio of European powers held an 'emergency call' Friday. Doctors Without Borders 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 UN said one in five children in Gaza City were suffering from malnutrition. 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.

British surgeon alleges ‘target practice' shootings of Gazans by Israeli forces
British surgeon alleges ‘target practice' shootings of Gazans by Israeli forces

Arab News

timea day ago

  • Arab News

British surgeon alleges ‘target practice' shootings of Gazans by Israeli forces

LONDON: A British surgeon who recently returned from Gaza has claimed Israeli soldiers are shooting civilians at aid distribution points 'almost like a game of target practice,' allegations the Israeli military have strongly denied. Dr. Nick Maynard, a veteran of humanitarian missions in Gaza over the past 15 years, spent four weeks working at Nasser Hospital in the south of the Strip. He told Sky News that the population is suffering from 'profound malnutrition' and described the medical crisis facing patients and healthcare workers. Speaking to The World with Yalda Hakim on Sky News, Maynard said: 'I met several doctors who had cartons of formula feed in their luggage — and they were all confiscated by the Israeli border guards. Nothing else got confiscated, just the formula feed. 'There were four premature babies who died during the first two weeks when I was in Nasser Hospital — and there will be many, many more deaths unless the Israelis allow proper food to get in there.' Maynard, who has now visited Gaza three times since the war began, said the paediatric unit is relying on sugar water to feed children due to a lack of baby formula. 'They've got a small amount of formula feed for very small babies, but not enough,' he said. The effects of the crisis have also been severe on his colleagues. 'I saw people I'd known for years and I didn't recognise some of them,' he said. 'Two colleagues had lost 20kg and 30kg respectively. They were shells, they're all hungry. 'They're going to work every day, then going home to their tents where they have no food.' In the most serious allegation, Maynard claimed civilians were being shot by Israeli forces while they were collecting food at aid points. 'Israeli soldiers are shooting civilians at aid points almost like a game of target practice,' he said. Israel's military 'categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians, particularly in the manner described. For the sake of clarity, the army's binding orders prohibit forces operating in the area from intentionally firing at civilians,' it said. 'We are aware of reports of casualties among those who arrived at the aid distribution sites. These incidents are under examination by the relevant (military) authorities. Any allegation of a violation of the law or regulations will be thoroughly investigated, including taking appropriate action if necessary.' The military said it was 'working to facilitate and ease the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation at the designated distribution centres, as well as through other international actors. These efforts are being conducted under difficult and complex operational conditions.' Maynard claimed to have operated on boys as young as 11 who had been shot while collecting food at distribution sites run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. 'They had gone to get food for their starving families and they were shot,' he said. 'I operated on one 12-year-old boy who died on the operating table because his injuries were so severe.' He also alleged a disturbing pattern in the injuries observed during his time at the hospital. 'What was even more distressing was the pattern of injuries that we saw, the clustering of injuries to particular body parts on certain days,' he said. 'One day they'd be coming in predominately with gunshot wounds to the head or the neck, another day to the chest, another day to the abdomen. 'Twelve days ago, four young teenage boys came in, all of whom had been shot in the testicles and deliberately so. This is not coincidental. 'The clustering was far too obvious to be coincidental, and it seemed to us like this was almost like a game of target practice. I would never have believed this possible unless I'd witnessed this with my own eyes.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store