Despite calls by local and international organizations for urgent humanitarian aid to enter Gaza to avert a catastrophic disaster, Israel is not allowing water, food, medicine, fuel and electricity to reach the blockaded territory.
Recently, there has been an increase in child deaths, including infants and newborns, due to malnutrition caused by Israel’s “starvation policy” in Gaza.
According to the latest data released by health officials in the Gaza Strip, the number of children who died due to malnutrition reached 16 as of March 4.
In addition to Gaza City, 15 children died in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jibaliya in the northern Gaza Strip due to lack of food, dehydration and power outages, and one child died in Rafah in the south.
On February 27, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that a large number of babies were admitted to Kemal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya with life-threatening conditions due to malnutrition and dehydration.
The youngest is 14 days old and the oldest is 10 years old
The youngest of the children who died in Gaza as a result of Israel’s “starvation policy” is 14 days old, while the oldest is 10 years old.
The names and ages of the children in question are as follows:
Yazen al-Kefarna (10 years), Ibrahim al-Batsh (3 years), Khaled Ahmed Hijazi (2.5 years), Mira Salih Abdunnebi (2 years), Mahmoud Aben (1 year), Anwar al-Khudari (9 months), Yousef Sami al-Taramsi (6 months), Minnetullah Abu Umeyra (6 months), Abdel Aziz Salim (2 months old), Mohammed ez-Zayik (45 days old), Seher ez-Zubdeh (40 days old) and Musab Abu Asr (age unknown), as well as an unnamed 2-year-old boy and 3 unnamed girls aged 40 days, 33 days and 14 days.
“There are many children brought to hospital due to malnutrition”
Husam Abu Safiye, Director of Kemal Adwan Hospital, said in a statement on child deaths that 15 children died in the hospital due to malnutrition.
“There is a real famine in the north of the Gaza Strip, with many children brought to the hospital due to malnutrition,” Abu Safiya said, calling on the World Health Organization and international organizations to “urgently deliver food to the north of the Gaza Strip.”
Abu Safiya announced on February 28 that the hospital was out of service due to lack of fuel.
There is a real famine in Gaza, especially in the northern areas
Thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza City, especially in the northern areas, are experiencing real famine due to shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel due to ongoing Israeli attacks and restrictions.
Adele Khodr, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said in a written statement on March 3, regarding the deaths of malnourished infants in Gaza under Israeli aggression and blockade, that malnutrition is ravaging the Gaza Strip and the feared child deaths are occurring.
Khodr pointed out that at least 10 children have died in Kemal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip in recent days due to malnutrition and dehydration.
“These tragic and horrible deaths are predictable and completely preventable”
Noting that there are probably more children fighting for their lives in the few remaining hospitals in Gaza, while in the north there are more children without access to care, Khodr stressed that “these tragic and terrible deaths are predictable and completely preventable”.
Khodr underlined that the widespread lack of nutritious food, clean water and health services, as well as the denial of access to humanitarian aid, is affecting babies, children and mothers, especially in the north, leaving people hungry, exhausted and traumatized.
According to a January malnutrition survey conducted by UNICEF and the World Food Program (WFP) in northern Gaza, 16 percent of children under the age of 2 are severely malnourished, compared to 5 percent in the southern city of Rafah.
The statement called on humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF to enable humanitarian organizations to reverse the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, prevent famine and save children’s lives, including in the northern part of the territory, and called on them not to block or delay access to aid.
“Malnourished babies in Gaza are slowly dying in front of the world’s eyes. The lives of thousands more babies and children depend on urgent measures to be taken now.”
