GAZA — Palestinian infants in the Gaza Strip are facing
a devastating nutrition crisis, with severe food shortages leading to
unprecedented numbers of malnourished children seeking medical help. The dire
situation, exacerbated by the aftermath of Israel's attacks, has resulted in an
increase in child fatality rates, prompting urgent calls for greater aid
efforts to alleviate the suffering in the strip.
اضافة اعلان
On Monday, medical officials reported that 16 children
had died of malnutrition or dehydration at Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya,
northern Gaza, the part of the enclave where the lack of food is most extreme,
Al-Mamlaka TV reported.
World Health Organization (WHO) Spokesperson, Christian
Lindmeier, said, "The unofficial numbers can unfortunately be expected to
be higher.”
Heartbreaking stories emerge amidst
severe health struggles
Nurse Diaa Al-Shaer at Al-Awda health center in
Rafah,
southern Gaza, stated on Monday that children are suffering from malnutrition
and a range of other diseases are flocking in unprecedented numbers.
Shaer said, "We are facing a large number of
patients suffering from malnutrition.”
In the hospital, an infant, named Ahmed Qannan, weighed
only six kilograms. His aunt, Israa Khallakh, accompanying him, said that this
was half his weight before the war, adding that his condition worsens day by
day.
Reuters also obtained video footage recorded on
Saturday in the Kamal Adwan area showing a woman named Anwar Abdulnabi weeping
over the body of her daughter Mila, a toddler who had just died in her bed.
Abdulnabi stated that Mila had been suffering from
calcium and potassium deficiencies, but did not specify what caused the child's
death.
Dr. Ahmed Salem, working in the hospital's intensive
care unit, said that one factor contributing to the increased child mortality
rate is that new mothers suffer from malnutrition, noting that mothers cannot
breastfeed their infants while there is no baby formula available at the
hospital, which led to the deaths of children in the ICU and others in the
nurseries as well.
Gaza faces
severe food aid shortage amid restricted access and dwindling suppliesGaza receives far less food aid than is required,
exacerbating the dire humanitarian situation. Compounding the issue, access to
aid is particularly restricted in the northern areas of the Strip, as Israel
only permits truck crossings in the south. Desperate residents have resorted to
seizing aid trucks before they can reach their intended destinations in the
north.
UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North
Africa, Adele Khodr stated, "The sense of helplessness and despair among
parents and doctors in realizing that life saving aid, just a few kilometers
away, is being kept out of reach, must be unbearable.”
Additionally, UNRWA reported that about 97
aid trucks entered Gaza daily in
February, down from about 150 in January, and far less than the target of 500
daily.
UN agencies and relief organizations blame Israel's
actions for this shortage, including the closure of land crossings to northern
Gaza, ongoing military operations, and Israel's complex inspection system for
goods heading to Gaza.
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