UNRWA says some Gaza staff starving as malnutrition soars - War on Gaza
Gaza's population of more than two million people are facing severe shortages of food and other essentials, with doctors, the civil defence agency and medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reporting a spike in malnutrition cases in recent days.
In a post on X, UNRWA said that shortages in the Palestinian territory had caused food prices to increase by 40 times, while the aid stockpiled in its warehouses outside Gaza could feed "the entire population for over three months."
"The suffering in Gaza is manmade and must be stopped," it wrote. "Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale."
After talks to extend a six-week ceasefire broke down, Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza on March 2, allowing nothing in until trucks were again permitted at a trickle in late May.
The civil defence agency on Sunday reported at least three infant deaths from "severe hunger and malnutrition" in the past week.
Eighteen reportedly died of starvation within 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday, the ministry said.
"Infants under one year of age suffer from a lack of milk, which leads to a significant decrease in their weight and a decrease in their immunity that makes them vulnerable to diseases," said Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital.
Israel on Monday said there was "no ban or restriction on the entry of baby formula or baby food into Gaza."
COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body that oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, said that "over 2,000 tons of baby food and infant formula were delivered into Gaza", without specifying the time frame.
"We urge international organisations to continue coordinating with us to ensure the entry of baby food and formula without delay. Our commitment remains firm: to support humanitarian aid for civilians -- not for Hamas," COGAT wrote on X.
Israel's genocidal war in Gaza has killed 59,029 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded more than 140,000.
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Mada
11 hours ago
- Mada
Source: Al-Azhar grand imam withdrew call to save Gaza at foreign minister's request
Al-Azhar withdrew a Tuesday night statement in which it had called on 'active and influential forces' to stop Israel's genocidal war and mass starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. The following afternoon, it justified the withdrawal in a new statement from its media office in which it said it 'realized' the statement 'could affect the ongoing negotiations.' According to Al-Azhar, the decision to withdraw, which it called brave and responsible, came so the statement 'would not be used as an excuse to retreat from the negotiations or to bargain in them.' A source close to Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that Tayeb withdrew the statement after Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Atty urged him to do so, saying it may obstruct negotiations that are close to reaching a solution that would allow humanitarian aid to enter the besieged Gaza Strip. Palestinians in Gaza have been under an almost total siege since March. The recalled statement came amid increasing global calls to end the war and stop Israel's mass starvation of Palestinians, as the number of people dying from starvation and malnutrition rises. Ten people died from malnutrition-related causes in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Muneer al-Barsh. Tuesday's statement called on 'active and influential forces to do their utmost' to compel Israel to halt its systematic killing of Palestinians, 'immediately allow the entry of humanitarian and relief aid, and open all avenues for treating the sick and injured whose health conditions have deteriorated as a result of the Occupation's targeting of hospitals and medical facilities, in flagrant violation of all divine laws and international conventions.' It was removed from its pages hours later without comment until the following afternoon. The source explained that Tayeb made the decision to remove the statement in case doing so could expedite the entry of 'one bag of flour' to the people of Gaza in light of Abdel Atty's warnings that the ongoing negotiations would be 'ruined' by its publication, which came on behalf of the Egyptian and Qatari mediator according to the source. Last week, Doha was still hosting the first phase of a new round of negotiations that aims to reach an 'agreement of principles' that would serve as a basis for indirect ceasefire talks. At the same time, the United States, Qatar and Egypt presented both Palestinian factions and Israelis with an updated proposal for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange. But negotiations have stalled over Hamas's demands for a guarantee that Israel will not resume its war, and over the extent to which the Israeli military will withdraw from areas its forces are occupying in the Gaza Strip. Even amid talks toward a negotiated ceasefire, Israel has established newly fortified areas while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared plans to concentrate most of the Palestinians in Gaza to a confined area, which he dubbed a 'humanitarian city,' near the border with Egypt and resume the war once the truce supported by the US and the mediators ends. The deleted statement said that 'thousands of children and innocent people are being killed in cold blood, while the ones who survive are facing death from hunger, thirst, dehydration, the depletion of medicine and the failure of medical centers to save them from certain death.' It also declared Al-Azhar's 'disavowal before God of this suspicious global silence, the shameful international failure to support these defenseless people, and of any call to displace the people of Gaza from their land, and anyone who accepts or responds to these calls.' The statement, covered widely by domestic press before its withdrawal, which led to some coverage being taken down, was not the first from Tayeb concerning the genocidal war on Gaza. Since October 7, he has expressed solidarity with the people of Gaza, rejection of their displacement, criticism of the Israeli occupation and support for the Palestinian resistance on multiple occasions. This rhetoric does not always align with the official government discourse. Abdel Atty had contacted Tayeb on a previous occasion to change the wording of one of these statements, in parallel with a similar request which came at the time from a 'sovereign body,' according to the source. Al-Azhar's deleted statement comes as humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip deteriorate, amid an increase in the number of deaths from hunger and malnutrition as a result of Israel's starvation policies. Israel has been preventing the entry of humanitarian aid for months, blocking the regular aid entry and distribution mechanisms, while Israeli forces open fire on a daily basis at the people who approach the aid distribution centers designated by Israel. Thirty Western countries called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza on Monday, saying that the suffering of Palestinians has 'reached new depths.' The joint statement condemned 'the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food,' noting that 'over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid.' The group also condemned Netanyahu's plans to displace the population to a 'humanitarian city' as a violation of international humanitarian law. For its part, Hamas pointed yesterday to 'the extent of blackmail practiced by the Occupation through its committing of massacres in a desperate attempt to extract positions it has been unable to impose at the negotiating table.'
Mada
11 hours ago
- Mada
Hospitals receiving 120 malnutrition patients daily in Gaza, Health Ministry official says
Around 120 patients suffering from malnutrition are reaching Gaza's hospitals daily, Zaher al-Wahidy, director of the Health Ministry's Health Information Unit in Gaza, told Mada Masr this week. Many of the cases flooding into hospitals are children under five years of age, he said. At least 101 people, 80 of them children, have died from hunger and malnutrition-related complications as a result of Israel's starvation policies, Gaza's Health Ministry said on Tuesday. Eighteen of the deaths were recorded in a 24-hour period at the beginning of the week, as the impacts of mass-starvation conditions accelerate amid a severe scarcity of food in markets. Photojournalist Bashir Abu Shaar had to put his camera up for sale to afford a bag of flour for his family. It was his only source of income, but he said he 'could no longer bear to watch his children starve.' Flour and other food supplies have nearly vanished from Gaza's markets. The shortage has caused prices to soar to 'unbelievable' levels, said Khalil Daher, who was seeking flour in Gaza City's markets earlier this week. He told Mada Masr that traders are selling flour at rates surpassing even those seen during the 'first famine,' the weeks of hunger people lived through during Israel's siege on the strip in 2023, in the early months of its genocidal war. Prices for a kilogram of flour have reached nearly 150 shekels (around US$45), with some reports of a 1 kilogram sack being sold for over $100. Dhaher stood helpless among hundreds of other residents of Gaza City being starved after the trader he used to buy flour from ran out of supplies. He searched the markets for another source but came up empty-handed, unable to ease the days-long hunger his children have endured. For others, even seeking flour isn't an option. Eman Salha and her three children ran out of flour some time ago, and haven't had bread for two weeks. She told Mada Masr that their household has been plunged into destitution, since they have lost their only source of income to the war. To feed her children, Salha now relies on lentils and pasta cooked over a wood fire. For Barakat Eid, who hasn't eaten in three days, hunger has left his body so frail he can no longer walk to search for food for himself and his children. He, too, said he can't afford flour to 'quiet his children's empty stomachs.' Scarcity and unbridled inflation have left a majority of Gaza's residents dependent on food aid, the World Food Programme said on Sunday. But with Israeli settlers and soldiers sabotaging aid convoys before they can reach their destinations in the strip, and its military blocking humanitarian organizations' access, obtaining food aid is a highly dangerous process. Small quantities of aid are distributed daily at sites managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, located within Israeli-occupied militarized combat zones in Rafah, Khan Younis and central Gaza. Thousands of people wait at different sites each day, with only a few able to obtain food parcels as Israeli troops and aircraft open frequent fire on the crowds. Over 1,000 people have been killed while trying to get food since the GHF began operating at the end of May. Others have been crushed to death by the degree of crowding. Accessing the small quantities of United Nations food aid entering Gaza from the north likewise became fatal for more than 80 Palestinians this week, as Israeli forces opened fire on the crowds of thousands who had come to obtain supplies from a convoy of WFP trucks. The quantities of aid are insufficient after four months of the siege. Mohamed al-Arabid, a Gaza City resident, managed to secure ten kilograms of flour last week from a truck that reached northern Gaza. The supply only lasted his large family a few days, he said. 'That's the reality for decent people,' he told Mada Masr. 'Even though I got it from the grip of death, it's unbearable to think you have flour while others have none. You wish you had a whole truck to distribute to people.' One flour vendor who was selling his stock at high prices told Mada Masr he had obtained the supplies from the deadly GHF centers. He risks his life to get the flour and could 'be killed at any moment' in the process, he said, justifying the rates. 'Or else I'd keep it for my family.' Price hikes and hoarding led tens of thousands of Gaza's residents to take to the markets on Sunday to protest trading practices — particularly for basic staples like flour, the Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam reported. Ibrahim Ahmed, one of the protesters, told Mada Masr that he joined the demonstration at the Nasr market in northern Gaza City to denounce traders' exploitation. He said profiteering off people's need has peaked in recent days and blamed the dire situation on the closure of border crossings and the tightening of the blockade. On Saturday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said it has food supplies in storage that could sustain the entire population of Gaza for more than three months. But the aid remains stuck in warehouses — including in Egypt's Arish City — pending clearance for entry. The agency repeated its call to open the crossings and lift the blockade on the strip. Gaza's population has now entered the most severe conditions of food insecurity, or Phase 5 famine as per the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the Health Ministry's information unit director said on Monday. He noted that around 5,500 patients were recorded suffering with malnutrition in May, rising to 6,300 in June, warning that the risks are especially high for mothers, breastfeeding women and the elderly.
Al-Ahram Weekly
20 hours ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Israeli forces deepening assaults in Gaza City, killing at least 21 in overnight strikes - War on Gaza
The Israeli military said in a statement Wednesday that forces were operating in Gaza City, as well as in northern Gaza. Troops struck roughly 120 targets throughout Gaza over the past day, the military said without elaborating. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 21 people late Tuesday and early Wednesday. More than half of those killed were women and children, health authorities said. One Israeli strike hit a house Tuesday in the northwestern side of Gaza City, killing at least 12 people, according to the Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties. The dead included six children and two women, according to the Health Ministry's casualty list. Another strike hit an apartment in the Tal al-Hawa area in northern Gaza, killing at least six people. Among the dead were three children and two women, including one who was pregnant. Eight others were wounded, the ministry said. A third strike hit a tent in the Naser neighbourhood in Gaza City late Tuesday and killed three children, Shifa Hospital said. Desperation is mounting in the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts say is at risk of famine because of Israel's blockade and nearly two-year offensive. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in the Gaza Strip, mostly near aid sites run by an American contractor, the U.N. human rights office said Tuesday. More than 100 human rights groups and charities signed a letter published Wednesday demanding more aid for Gaza and warning of grim conditions causing starvation. In the letter, the groups said they were watching their own colleagues, as well as the Palestinians they serve, 'waste away.' The letter slammed Israel for what it said were restrictions on aid into the war-ravaged territory. It lamented 'massacres' at food distribution points, which have seen chaos and violence in recent weeks as desperation has risen. 'The government of Israel's restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death,' the letter said. Since the war started in October 2023, the Israeli army has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women. This story was edited by Ahram Online. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
