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The Hindu
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
The View From India newsletter: Isolating Israel, ending the massacre in Gaza
'Grabbing her daughter's feeble arm, Asmaa al-Arja pulls a shirt over the 2-year-old's protruding ribs and swollen belly. The child lies on a hospital bed, heaving, then wails uncontrollably, throwing her arms around her own shoulders as if to console herself. This isn't the first time Mayar has been in a Gaza hospital battling malnutrition, yet this 17-day stint is the longest,' American news agency Associated Press reported last week. It took horrific stories like this, and the UN humanitarian chief's warning that 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in if the Israeli aid blockade persists, for some Western countries to be jolted into finally seeing the devastation in Gaza, over one-and-a-half years after Israel's brutal offensive began, and after nearly 54,000 people, including women and children, died. 'We strongly oppose the expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza. The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable. Yesterday's announcement that Israel will allow a basic quantity of food into Gaza is wholly inadequate. We call on the Israeli Government to stop its military operations in Gaza and immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. This must include engaging with the UN to ensure a return to delivery of aid in line with humanitarian principles. We call on Hamas to release immediately the remaining hostages they have so cruelly held since 7 October 2023,' a joint statement from the United Kingdom, Canada, and France said on May 20, 2025. Notably, the leaders said: 'We will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.' Amid growing calls to end the blockade, a few aid trucks entered Gaza following nearly three months of Israel's complete blockade of food, medicine, and other supplies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who had announced that Israel seeks to control 'all of Gaza' by the end of the latest offensive — said his decision to resume limited, 'basic' aid to Gaza came after allies said they couldn't support Israel's renewed military offensive if there are 'images of hunger' coming from the Palestinian territory. It indicated that even the belated pressure from some allies had some impact. 'It is time for the international community to speak up so that Mr. Netanyahu does not think he can get away with what international agencies are calling genocide. New Delhi has notably thus far not issued any statement. This silence may be because of its own preoccupation with Pakistan and due to Israel's unequivocal support over Operation Sindoor. There is no link or equivalence between the two situations, however,' The Hindu's editorial said. However, it is yet to be seen if the Western countries' reactions will be enough to globally isolate the Israeli state, especially when the United States continues to steadfastly back Mr. Netanyahu. 'It's quite simple: you cannot say you oppose Israel's renewed military operation if you keep providing them with the weapons they need to carry it out,' former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told The Hindu's correspondent Sriram Lakshman, pointing to the apparent hypocrisy of the U.K. government. Mr. Corbyn will soon present the 'Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill', his office said. Meanwhile, the U.S. capital was rocked by the murder of a young couple who served there as Israeli embassy staff. The assailant, who raised slogans to 'Free Palestine' following his arrest shortly after the violent act, was named by authorities as Elias Rodriguez. Taking the position that violence against Israelis has no place in efforts to highlight Palestinian cause, The Hindu said in its editorial: 'It is important for the international community to be able to criticise Israel's brutal war in Gaza and rein in Mr. Netanyahu without being seen as anti-Semitic or supportive of Hamas. But violence against Israelis has no place in the efforts to highlight the plight of the Palestinians.' Amid these developments, Gaza continues to bleed. Israeli strikes have killed at least 40 people in the northern Gaza Strip, according to local health officials. Fifteen people from the same family, including five women and two children, were killed in a strike on a home Monday (May 26, 2025), according to Shifa Hospital. Gaza's Health Ministry had earlier said that at least 25 people were killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City. As one of the starkest humanitarian crises of our times, Gaza has been holding a mirror to the world, be it states or peoples. Top 5 stories this week: 1. U.S. was neither involved nor informed on truce with Pakistan: Government tells parliamentary panel, Sobhana K. Nair and Suhasini Haidar write 2. Introspecting counter-terrorism after Operation Sindoor: Retired Indian Army colonel Shashank Ranjan contends that the focus on India's foreign policy and military force is blurring aspects that concern the internalisation of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir 3. The air power use discourse and Operation Sindoor: The focus must be on what air power can bring to an integrated battle to force decisive strategic outcomes, writes retired Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam 4. No ceasefire: The Hindu editorial on the Russia-Ukraine war and how Moscow is utilising the deepening chasm among Ukraine's key allies 5. Veda Vaidyanathan writes that it is time for a new India-Africa digital compact.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Gaza's main hospital is overwhelmed with children in pain from malnutrition
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Grabbing her daughter's feeble arm, Asmaa al-Arja pulls a shirt over the 2-year-old's protruding ribs and swollen belly. The child lies on a hospital bed, heaving, then wails uncontrollably, throwing her arms around her own shoulders as if to console herself. This isn't the first time Mayar has been in a Gaza hospital battling malnutrition, yet this 17-day stint is the longest. She has celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that means she can't eat gluten and requires special food. But there's little left for her to eat in the embattled enclave after 19 months of war and Israel's punishing blockade, and she can't digest what's available. 'She needs diapers, soy milk and she needs special food. This is not available because of border closures. If it's available, it is expensive, I can't afford it,' her mother said as she sat next to Mayar at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Mayar is among the more than 9,000 children who have been treated for malnutrition this year, according to the U.N. children's agency, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year. Experts also warn the territory could plunge into famine if Israel doesn't stop its military campaign and fully lift its blockade — but the World Health Organization said last week that people are already starving. 'Everywhere you look, people are hungry. ... They point their fingers to their mouths showing that (they) need something to eat,' said Nestor Owomuhangi, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund for the Palestinian territories. 'The worst has already arrived in Gaza.' Israel eases blockade but little aid reaches Palestinians For more than two months, Israel has banned all food, medicine and other goods from entering the territory that is home to some 2 million Palestinians, as it carries out waves of airstrikes and ground operations. Palestinians in Gaza rely almost entirely on outside aid to survive because Israel's offensive has destroyed almost all the territory's food production capabilities. After weeks of insisting Gaza had enough food, Israel relented in the face of international pressure and began allowing dozens of humanitarian trucks into the territory this week — including some carrying baby food. 'Children are already dying from malnutrition and there are more babies in Gaza now who will be in mortal danger if they don't get fast access to the nutrition supplies needed to save their lives,' said Tess Ingram of the U.N. children's agency. But U.N. agencies say the amount is woefully insufficient, compared to around 600 trucks a day that entered during a recent ceasefire and that are necessary to meet basic needs. And they have struggled to retrieve the aid and distribute it, blaming complicated Israeli military procedures and the breakdown of law and order inside the territory. On Wednesday, a U.N. official said more than a dozen trucks arrived at warehouses in central Gaza. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. That appeared to be the first aid to actually reach a distribution point since the blockade was lifted. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid, without providing evidence, and plans to roll out a new aid distribution system within days. U.N. agencies and aid groups say the new system would fall far short of mounting needs, force much of the population to flee again in order to be closer to distribution sites, and violate humanitarian principles by forcing people to move to receive the aid rather than delivering it based on need to where people live. On top of not being able to find or afford the food that Mayar needs, her mother said chronic diarrhea linked to celiac disease has kept the child in and out of hospital all year. The toddler — whose two pigtails are brittle, a sign of malnutrition — weighs 7 kilograms (15 pounds), according to doctors. That's about half what healthy girl her age should. But it's getting harder to help her as supplies like baby formula are disappearing, say health staff. Hospitals are hanging by a thread, dealing with mass casualties from Israeli strikes. Packed hospital feeding centers are overwhelmed with patients. 'We have nothing at Nasser Hospital," said Dr. Ahmed al-Farrah, who said his emergency center for malnourished children is at full capacity. Supplies are running out, people are living off scraps, and the situation is catastrophic for babies and pregnant women, he said. Everything watered down to make it last In the feeding center of the hospital, malnourished mothers console their hungry children — some so frail their spines jut out of their skin, their legs swollen from lack food. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises, has warned that there could be some 71,000 cases of malnourished children between now and March. In addition, nearly 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will need treatment for acute malnutrition in the coming months. Mai Namleh and her 18-month-old son, who live in a tent, are both malnourished. She wanted to wean him off of breastmilk because she barely has any, but she has so little else to give him. She gives him heavily watered-down formula to ration it, and sometimes offers him starch to quiet his hunger screams. 'I try to pass it for milk to stop him screaming,' she said of the formula. An aid group gave her around 30 packets of nutritional supplements, but they ran out in two days as she shared them with family and friends, she said. In another tent, Nouf al-Arja says she paid a fortune for a hard-to-find kilogram (about 2 pounds) of red lentils. The family cooks it with a lot of water so it lasts, unsure what they will eat next. The mother of four has lost 23 kilograms (50 pounds) and struggles to focus, saying she constantly feels dizzy. Both she and her 3-year-old daughter are malnourished, doctors said. She's worried her baby boy, born four months earlier and massively underweight, will suffer the same fate as she struggles to breastfeed. 'I keep looking for (infant food) .... so I can feed him. There is nothing," she said. ___ El Deeb reported from Beirut and Mednick from Tel Aviv, Israel. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at Mohammed Jahjouh, Wafaa Shurafa, Sarah El Deeb And Sam Mednick, The Associated Press
The Hindu
22-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Mothers and their babies face starvation in Gaza, where hospitals are overwhelmed
Grabbing her daughter's feeble arm, Asmaa al-Arja pulls a shirt over the 2-year-old's protruding ribs and swollen belly. The child lies on a hospital bed, heaving, then wails uncontrollably, throwing her arms around her own shoulders as if to console herself. Editorial | Israel's isolation: On the western world and Gaza This isn't the first time Mayar has been in a Gaza hospital battling malnutrition, yet this 17-day stint is the longest. She has celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that means she can't eat gluten and requires special food. But there's little left for her to eat in the embattled enclave after 19 months of war and Israel's punishing blockade, and she can't digest what's available. 'She needs diapers, soy milk and she needs special food. This is not available because of border closures. If it's available, it is expensive, I can't afford it,' her mother said as she sat next to Mayar, now exhausted from the screaming, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Also Read | Western countries condemn expansion of Israeli operations in Gaza Mayar is among the more than 9,000 children who have been treated for malnutrition this year, according to the U.N. children's agency, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year. Experts also warn the territory could plunge into famine if Israel doesn't stop its military campaign and fully lift its blockade — but the World Health Organization said last week that people are already starving. For more than two months, Israel has banned all food, medicine and other goods from entering the territory that is home to some 2 million Palestinians, as it carries out waves of airstrikes and ground operations. Palestinians in Gaza rely almost entirely on outside aid to survive because Israel's offensive has destroyed almost all the territory's food production capabilities. After weeks of insisting Gaza had enough food, Israel relented in the face of international pressure and began allowing dozens of humanitarian trucks into the territory this week — including some carrying baby food. Also Read | First few aid trucks enter Gaza after nearly 3 months of Israel's blockade 'Children are already dying from malnutrition, and there are more babies in Gaza now who will be in mortal danger if they don't get fast access to the nutrition supplies needed to save their lives,' said Tess Ingram of the U.N. children's agency. But U.N. agencies say the amount is woefully insufficient, compared to around 600 trucks a day that entered during a recent ceasefire and that are necessary to meet basic needs. And they have struggled to retrieve the aid and distribute it, blaming complicated Israeli military procedures and the breakdown of law and order inside the territory. On Wednesday, a U.N. official said more than a dozen trucks arrived at warehouses in central Gaza. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. That appeared to be the first aid to actually reach a distribution point since the blockade was lifted. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid, without providing evidence, and plans to roll out a new aid distribution system within days. U.N. agencies and aid groups say the new system would fall far short of mounting needs, force much of the population to flee again in order to be closer to distribution sites, and violate humanitarian principles by forcing people to move to receive the aid rather than delivering it based on need to where people live. On top of not being able to find or afford the food that Mayar needs, her mother said chronic diarrhea linked to celiac disease has kept the child in and out of hospital all year. But it's getting harder to help her as supplies like baby formula are disappearing, say health staff. Hospitals are hanging by a thread, dealing with mass casualties from Israeli strikes. Packed hospital feeding centers are overwhelmed with patients. 'We have nothing at Nasser Hospital," said Dr. Ahmed al-Farrah, who said his emergency center for malnourished children is at full capacity. Supplies are running out, people are living off scraps, and the situation is catastrophic for babies and pregnant women, he said. In the feeding center of the hospital, malnourished mothers console their hungry children — some so frail their spines jut out of their skin, their legs swollen from lack food. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises, has warned that there could be some 71,000 cases of malnourished children between now and March. In addition, nearly 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will need treatment for acute malnutrition in the coming months. Mai Namleh and her 18-month-old son, who live in a tent, are both malnourished. She wanted to wean him off of breastmilk because she barely has any, but she has so little else to give him. She gives him heavily watered-down formula to ration it, and sometimes offers him starch to quiet his hunger screams. 'I try to pass it for milk to stop him screaming,' she said of the formula. An aid group gave her around 30 packets of nutritional supplements, but they ran out in two days as she shared them with family and friends, she said. In another tent, Nouf al-Arja says she paid a fortune for a hard-to-find kilogram (about 2 pounds) of red lentils. The family cooks it with a lot of water so it lasts, unsure what they will eat next. The mother of four has lost 23 kilograms (50 pounds) and struggles to focus, saying she constantly feels dizzy. Both she and her 3-year-old daughter are malnourished, doctors said. She's worried her baby boy, born four months earlier and massively underweight, will suffer the same fate as she struggles to breastfeed. 'I keep looking for (infant food) .... so I can feed him. There is nothing," she said.
Los Angeles Times
22-05-2025
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
Gaza's main hospital is overwhelmed with children in pain from malnutrition
KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip — Grabbing her daughter's feeble arm, Asmaa al-Arja pulls a shirt over the 2-year-old's protruding ribs and swollen belly. The child lies on a hospital bed, heaving, then wails uncontrollably, throwing her arms around her own shoulders as if to console herself. This isn't the first time Mayar has been in a Gaza hospital battling malnutrition, yet this 17-day stint is the longest. She has celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that means she can't eat gluten and requires special food. But there's little left for her to eat in the embattled enclave after 19 months of war and Israel's punishing blockade, and she can't digest what's available. 'She needs diapers, soy milk and she needs special food. This is not available because of border closures. If it's available, it is expensive, I can't afford it,' her mother said as she sat next to Mayar at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. Mayar is among the more than 9,000 children in Gaza who have been treated for malnutrition this year, according to the United Nations Children's Fund, widely known as UNICEF. Food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year. Experts also warn the territory could plunge into famine if Israel doesn't stop its military campaign and fully lift its blockade — but the World Health Organization said last week that people are already starving. 'Everywhere you look, people are hungry. ... They point their fingers to their mouths showing that (they) need something to eat,' said Nestor Owomuhangi, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund for the Palestinian territories. 'The worst has already arrived in Gaza.' For more than two months, Israel has banned all food, medicine and other goods from entering the territory that is home to some 2 million Palestinians, as it carries out waves of airstrikes and ground operations. Palestinians in Gaza rely almost entirely on outside aid to survive because Israel's offensive has destroyed almost all the territory's food production capabilities. After weeks of insisting Gaza had enough food, Israel relented in the face of international pressure and began allowing dozens of humanitarian trucks into the territory this week — including some carrying baby food. 'Children are already dying from malnutrition and there are more babies in Gaza now who will be in mortal danger if they don't get fast access to the nutrition supplies needed to save their lives,' said Tess Ingram of the U.N. children's agency. But U.N. agencies say the amount is woefully insufficient, compared to around 600 trucks a day that entered during a recent ceasefire and that are necessary to meet basic needs. And they have struggled to retrieve the aid and distribute it, blaming complicated Israeli military procedures and the breakdown of law and order inside the territory. On Wednesday, a U.N. official said more than a dozen trucks arrived at warehouses in central Gaza. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. That appeared to be the first aid to actually reach a distribution point since the blockade was lifted. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid, without providing evidence, and plans to roll out a new aid distribution system within days. U.N. agencies and aid groups say the new system would fall far short of mounting needs, force much of the population to flee again in order to be closer to distribution sites, and violate humanitarian principles by forcing people to move to receive the aid rather than delivering it based on need to where people live. On top of not being able to find or afford the food that Mayar needs, her mother said chronic diarrhea linked to celiac disease has kept the child in and out of hospital all year. The toddler — whose two pigtails are brittle, a sign of malnutrition — weighs 15 pounds, according to doctors. That's about half what healthy girl her age should. But it's getting harder to help her as supplies like baby formula are disappearing, say health staff. Hospitals are hanging by a thread, dealing with mass casualties from Israeli strikes. Packed hospital feeding centers are overwhelmed with patients. 'We have nothing at Nasser Hospital,' said Dr. Ahmed al-Farrah, who said his emergency center for malnourished children is at full capacity. Supplies are running out, people are living off scraps, and the situation is catastrophic for babies and pregnant women, he said. In the feeding center of the hospital, malnourished mothers console their hungry children — some so frail their spines jut out of their skin, their legs swollen from lack food. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises, has warned that there could be some 71,000 cases of malnourished children between now and March. In addition, nearly 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will need treatment for acute malnutrition in the coming months. Mai Namleh and her 18-month-old son, who live in a tent, are both malnourished. She wanted to wean him off of breastmilk because she barely has any, but she has so little else to give him. She gives him heavily watered-down formula to ration it, and sometimes offers him starch to quiet his hunger screams. 'I try to pass it for milk to stop him screaming,' she said of the formula. An aid group gave her around 30 packets of nutritional supplements, but they ran out in two days as she shared them with family and friends, she said. In another tent, Nouf al-Arja says she paid a fortune for a hard-to-find approximately 2 pounds of red lentils. The family cooks it with a lot of water so it lasts, unsure what they will eat next. The mother of four has lost 50 pounds and struggles to focus, saying she constantly feels dizzy. Both she and her 3-year-old daughter are malnourished, doctors said. She's worried her baby boy, born four months earlier and massively underweight, will suffer the same fate as she struggles to breastfeed. 'I keep looking for (infant food) .... so I can feed him. There is nothing,' she said. Jahjouh, Shurafa, El Deeb and Mednick write for the Associated Press. El Deeb reported from Beirut and Mednick from Tel Aviv.
New Indian Express
22-05-2025
- Health
- New Indian Express
Mothers and their babies face starvation in Gaza, where hospitals are overwhelmed
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: Grabbing her daughter's feeble arm, Asmaa al-Arja pulls a shirt over the 2-year-old's protruding ribs and swollen belly. The child lies on a hospital bed, heaving, then wails uncontrollably, throwing her arms around her own shoulders as if to console herself. This isn't the first time Mayar has been in a Gaza hospital battling malnutrition, yet this 17-day stint is the longest. She has celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that means she can't eat gluten and requires special food. But there's little left for her to eat in the embattled enclave after 19 months of war and Israel's punishing blockade, and she can't digest what's available. 'She needs diapers, soy milk and she needs special food. This is not available because of border closures. If it's available, it is expensive, I can't afford it,' her mother said as she sat next to Mayar, now exhausted from the screaming, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Mayar is among the more than 9,000 children who have been treated for malnutrition this year, according to the UN children's agency, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year. Experts also warn the territory could plunge into famine if Israel doesn't stop its military campaign and fully lift its blockade — but the World Health Organization said last week that people are already starving. 'Everywhere you look, people are hungry. ... They point their fingers to their mouths showing that (they) need something to eat,' said Nestor Owomuhangi, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund for the Palestinian territories. 'The worst has already arrived in Gaza.'
