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NBC News
5 days ago
- Health
- NBC News
American doctors describe dire conditions at a Khan Younis hospital in Gaza
A pair of American volunteer doctors described to NBC News a barely coping hospital in Gaza, with bodies spread across the blood-smeared floors as medical staff struggled to treat hundreds of people who had been injured as they tried to access humanitarian aid. 'We have children who are dead on the floor and we are unable to move these patients just due to the sheer volume that we received,' Ahmed Farhat, an emergency physician from California, told NBC News in a video message Tuesday, talking about the situation at the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis. 'We have patients who are intubated on the floor with no sedation. We have patients who have chest tubes on the floor, patients who are bleeding out,' added Farhat, who is just under two weeks into a medical mission run by the Michigan-based Rahma Worldwide, a charity founded in 2014 that operates emergency response and humanitarian relief programs across the Middle East and Africa. His comments echo those of other doctors working in Gaza who in recent interviews with NBC News have lamented the lack of food and medicine being allowed into the enclave, amid international outrage over widespread starvation and deaths from malnutrition. Others have described aid distribution points as death traps, as a growing number of people have been killed or injured while seeking desperately needed food. Three short videos taken by Farhat in the Nasser Medical Complex on Tuesday showed dozens of people waiting for treatment on the hospital's floors. Some had tubes inserted to help them breathe, others were motionless. Citing hospital administration data, Farhat said in a text message on Wednesday that the Nasser Complex received 453 patients within a number of hours on Tuesday, and 48 of them had died. He added that his patients told him they had come under fire by Israeli forces while trying to collect aid from two sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the U.S. and Israel-backed organization that has been mired in controversy since replacing most United Nations-run relief operations in Gaza in May. In a statement to NBC News on Wednesday, the GHF, which operates four militarized food aid distribution sites across the enclave in areas where the Israeli military is active, said aid convoys belonging to the United Nations and other organizations in the past often passed near their locations and were regularly looted by large crowds. However, it said there were 'no incidents at or near' their sites on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) could not confirm whether its aid convoys had been looted near GHF sites. NBC News has reached out to the Israeli military for comment about the casualties at Nasser Hospital. Farhat said other patients had told him they had been fired upon in another incident near Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah while seeking aid from a United Nations aid convoy that was passing through. An OCHA spokesperson did not have any details about the specific event, but said such incidents are not uncommon. Separately, the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Wednesday that 87 people had been killed and 570 injured in a series of incidents across the enclave on Tuesday. Travis Melin, an anesthesiologist from Oregon who also volunteers at the Nasser Hospital, said the number of patients on Tuesday had been 'huge.' In a text message Wednesday, he added that he had seen the highest number of casualties at the hospital during his monthlong tenure there. 'We're still doing emergency surgery on people who should have gone to the OR yesterday,' he said. The 'worst-case scenario of famine' is unfolding in the Gaza Strip under Israel's assault, the world's leading body on hunger said last week. Meanwhile, most of its residents have been driven from their homes and more than 61,000 killed, including thousands of children, according to local health officials. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage. Nearly 1,400 people have been killed and more than 4,000 injured while seeking food, the United Nations' OCHA said in an update Tuesday. 'At least 859 people have been killed around GHF sites since the beginning of GHF's operations,' it added.
Days of Palestine
5 days ago
- Politics
- Days of Palestine
UN Clinic Bombed as Israel Continues Attacks on Medical Facilities
DaysofPal- An Israeli airstrike has hit a United Nations-run clinic sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, marking yet another escalation in a deliberate campaign to destroy the foundations of civilian life across the Gaza Strip. The targeted clinic, which had served as a haven for families fleeing the war, has reportedly been struck multiple times since the conflict began in October 2023. The Israeli occupation forces have not publicly explained why the facility, marked and operated by the UN, was considered a legitimate target. This latest strike fits a growing pattern as over recent months, the Israeli forces have expanded its operations to include a sweeping range of civilian infrastructure, including government buildings, international agency offices, UN shelters, schools, hospitals, and even water wells and power stations, which have been bombed in what rights groups and analysts are calling a systematic effort to make Gaza unlivable. 'The message is clear,' said one Gaza-based humanitarian worker, noting that 'they are not just targeting militants, they are targeting life itself.' The consequences on the ground are devastating, as over two million Palestinians now face catastrophic humanitarian conditions, where food and clean water are scarce. Moreover, the health system has collapsed under pressure from relentless bombing and an influx of mass casualties. Families have been pushed into a shrinking patch of land in the western edge of Gaza City, near the coast, areas that are themselves under threat and overcrowded far beyond capacity. Footage from inside Gaza shows families scrambling for shelter, aid, and safety, often moving through rubble and bombed-out streets. With nowhere left to go, displaced civilians have taken refuge in destroyed clinics and schools, facilities once protected by international law, now repeatedly struck. Experts warn that such a strategy may constitute war crimes, while the Israeli occupation frequently claims that Hamas uses civilian infrastructure for military purposes, no evidence has been presented to justify many of the attacks on UN-run or internationally protected sites. 'This goes beyond warfare,' said one UN rights expert, adding that 'This is the intentional destruction of a civilian society. The aim appears to be to make Gaza uninhabitable for its entire population.' Calls for accountability are growing louder as human rights groups and UN officials have urged the international community to intervene, not only to enforce an immediate ceasefire, but to launch investigations into possible crimes against humanity. The destruction of essential infrastructure, coupled with the displacement of nearly the entire population, has prompted renewed demands for an arms embargo on Israel and sanctions against entities complicit in the war effort. 'The world must not look away,' said a joint statement from UN human rights experts. 'We are witnessing the systematic erasure of a population's ability to survive.' It added. Israeli Forces Bomb UN Clinic Seeking Gaza Uninhabitable As Gaza's skies remain filled with drones and warplanes, and its streets echo with the sounds of grief and destruction, humanitarian agencies warn that time is running out, not just to save lives, but to save Gaza itself. Shortlink for this post:
NBC News
29-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
U.K. to recognize Palestine as a state unless Israel agrees to 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza
LONDON — The U.K. has said it would recognize Palestine as a state unless the Israeli government 'takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza,' as global anger mounts over the war in the Palestinian territory. 'We demand an immediate ceasefire to stop the slaughter,' a statement from Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said on Tuesday. It set a September deadline. The statement also called for the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. Around 50 people remain captivity in the enclave, according the the most recent Israeli tally released last month, although 28 are believed to be dead. The total number of Palestinians killed since Israel launched its offensive in October 2023 has passed 60,000, the health ministry in the Gaza Strip announced earlier. Also on Tuesday, the world's leading body on hunger said the 'worst-case scenario of famine' was unfolding there. 'Unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza,' while allowing the U.N. 'to restart without delay the supply of humanitarian support to the people of Gaza to end starvation,' it would recognize the state of Palestine in September before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the statement added. Hunger and malnutrition, which had been worsening since the beginning of the war, began to spiral after Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas in May, permitting only a trickle of desperately needed aid into the enclave. Israel has also sought to replace the United Nations-run aid structure with Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Backed by the U.S. with the help of private security contractors, it runs four distribution sites, compared with the hundreds that were in place before. The U.K.'s decision follows French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement Thursday that France would recognize Palestine as a state. If they end up recognizing Palestine, the U.K. and France would join more than 140 countries that already do. The U.K.'s move will almost certainly provoke an angry response from Israel and the United States. On Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called France's decision 'reckless' and serving 'Hamas propaganda.' Starmer has faced pressure from growing numbers of lawmakers in his ruling Labour Party about recognizing a Palestinian state and put pressure on the Israeli government. Successive British governments have said they will formally recognize a Palestinian state when the time is right, but they have never setting a timetable or specified the necessary conditions to do so. Tuesday's announcement came after Starmer recalled his Cabinet during its summer recess to discuss a new peace plan being worked on with European leaders, part of which will focus on getting more aid into Gaza. Among Americans, Israel's war in Gaza, which was triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks that killed some 1,200 people, has falled dramatically, according to a new Gallup poll. Only about one-third approved of them military action, which represents a drop from the beginning of the war when about half of Americans approved of the operation.
The Star
15-06-2025
- General
- The Star
‘All we want is a loaf of bread'
IT had made sense to Nour Barda and Heba al-Arqan in November 2023 to try for another baby when a temporary truce had just taken hold in the Gaza Strip. Barda's father, who had only sons, kept asking when he might have a granddaughter at last. Back then, the war seemed like it might end. Back then, there was food, even if it was not enough. By the time al-Arqan found out she was pregnant last year, things in Gaza were much worse. When she gave birth to Shadia in April, there was so little to eat that al-Arqan, 25, had almost no milk to give. Now she holds Shadia at her breast just to calm her down, Barda said, knowing that nothing is likely to come. It had been like this with Jihad, their son, who was born in 2023, two weeks after the war began. In an image provided by family, Jihad Barda, born in Gaza in October 2023. —Nour Barda via The New York Times But now she and her husband had two babies to keep alive at a time when Israel had blocked almost all aid from entering Gaza for nearly three months – 80 days of total siege beginning in March. Israel began to ease the blockade in May, but only a thin trickle of supplies has arrived. The traditional United Nations-run system for delivering aid has faltered as looters and fighting have cut off safe routes for aid trucks, and a new, Israeli-backed aid distribution system has descended into controversy, chaos and violence. Although the group behind it says it has delivered nearly nine million meals so far, the UN says the assistance falls far short of what is needed for a population of two million people. Security at the new distribution sites is being provided by private American contractors, but the Israeli military is stationing forces nearby, outside the perimeter. Born just around 2.3kg,Shadia was weaker and smaller than her brother and had gained just 0.2kg a month later, her parents said. She struggled to suck from the bottle, usually drinking only half of the single bottle of formula that aid groups can offer at a time, they said. Al-Arqan has taken to drinking whatever her daughter does not finish, hoping the nutrients will help her produce milk, she said. 'Her birth brought me more anxiety than joy,' al-Arqan said. 'History is repeating itself, but this time with my little girl.' When al-Arqan managed to get some child nutritional supplements from an aid group in mid-May by waiting in line for six hours, aid workers evaluated Shadia by measuring her arm and concluded that the baby had moderate acute malnutrition, she said. But after nearly 20 months of war, Shadia's parents have no income or savings left to spend on milk or formula at the market. They survive on one meal a day: either a little lentil soup or rice and beans they get from charity kitchens in northern Gaza, where they have been living in a tent in the street for about six weeks. Barda, 26, who worked as a baker at a pastry chain before the war and has not been able to find steady work since, cannot find flour in northern Gaza for less than about US$23 (RM93) a kilogram, he said. That puts bread, the base on which practically every meal in Gaza used to be built, out of reach. 'When we had Jihad, we still had some savings,' al-Arqan said. 'Now we have nothing – no savings, no vegetables in the markets and no affordable flour.' Jihad's name, after an uncle, means 'struggle' or 'striving.' Jihad is no longer a baby. Now he asks constantly for food. A few days ago, as he was about to go down for a nap, al-Arqan said she heard him drowsily murmuring: 'Mama – bread.' 'Every day, we lose more ways to survive,' she said. 'My son is only asking for the bare minimum – a loaf of bread. We're not asking for proper housing or clothes or even meat. All we want is a loaf of bread to stop the children's crying. Is that too much to ask?' To the south, in the city of Khan Younis, Hanaa al-Najjar has three children to feed, and little but lentils and dried pasta to feed them with. A Palestinian family displaced from Beit Hanoun share a meal of simple bulgur, with bread and basic food supplies scarce, at a UNRWA school in Gaza City in May. — Saher Alghorra/The New York Times Al-Najjar, now 31, had been left to take care of her children on her own after Israeli soldiers detained her husband as the family was evacuating a shelter on the Israeli military's orders, she said. After she ran out of formula, she was forced to feed her youngest, Muhanned, bread dipped in canned beans and lentil soup. His appetite suffered, and at less than two years old, he weighed half of what he was supposed to. He died in March 2024. Her elder son, Mohammed, now eight, had been hospitalised a few weeks before for fever and dehydration. Although he recovered, he has never been able to put on weight, al-Najjar said. He weighs a little less than 19kg – underweight by World Health Organisation standards. 'He never gains any extra weight like other kids,' she said. Now they live in a tent next to a graveyard in western Khan Younis. Al-Najjar's husband remains missing in detention. The graveyard near where the al-Najjar family now lives in a tent in Khan Younis. — Bilal Shbair/The New York Times Without wheat flour, she grinds up dried lentils and pasta to make something resembling bread. Mohammed struggles to digest it, she said, and is always constipated. She has not found any medication to treat his bowel issues. For more than three months now, he has also had a bacterial infection on his scalp that doctors have been unable to treat, she said. It recently spread to his 10-year-old and five-year-old sisters. Mohammed is a cheerful child. But the evidence of his rocky health is right there on the back of his head, even if he wears an orange hoodie to hide it. There, his dark hair has fallen out in patches, leaving nothing but an expanse of seething red skin. — ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
The National
15-06-2025
- Health
- The National
8 Palestinians killed by IDF shooting near aid site in Gaza
Witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire around dawn towards crowds of desperate Palestinians heading to two aid sites in Rafah. Experts and aid workers say Israel's blockade and military campaign have caused widespread hunger and raised the risk of famine. The shooting happened hundreds of metres away from the sites, which are operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a group that Israel and the United States hope will replace the United Nations-run system of aid distribution. READ MORE: UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Israel as Iran strikes escalate The UN has rejected the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles. There have been near-daily shootings near the sites since they opened last month. Witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly fired on the crowds and health officials say scores have been killed. The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at what it says were suspects approaching its forces. 'There were wounded, dead, and martyrs,' Ahmed al-Masri told The Associated Press on Sunday as he returned from one of the sites empty-handed. 'It's a trap.' READ MORE: Why did Israel attack Iran and have they again broken international law? Umm Hosni al-Najjar said she joined the crowd heading to the aid point in Rafah's Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood at around 4.30am local time. She said the shooting began as people were advancing to the site a few minutes after her arrival. 'There were many wounded and martyrs,' she said. 'No-one was able to evacuate them.' The Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis said it received eight bodies after the shooting. The aid system rolled out last month has been marred by chaos and violence, while the UN system has struggled to deliver food because of Israeli restrictions and a breakdown of law and order., despite Israel loosening a total blockade it imposed from early March to mid-May. Israel and the US claim Hamas has siphoned aid off of the UN-run system, while UN officials say there is no evidence of systematic diversion. The UN says the new system does not meet Gaza's needs, allows Israel to control who gets aid and risks further mass displacement as people move closer to the sites. Two are in the southernmost city of Rafah – now mostly inhabited – and all three are in Israeli military zones that are off limits to independent media.
