Arab Canada News
News
Published: March 9, 2024
It is not only Israeli bombs that have killed children in war-torn Gaza, but some are also dying of hunger now.
Officials have long warned of the danger of famine in the Palestinian territories that have been bombed, attacked, and blockaded by Israel over the past five months.
Hunger is intensifying in northern Gaza Strip, which has been isolated by Israeli forces and suffered from prolonged food supply disruptions. At least 20 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration in Kamal Adwan and Al-Shifa hospitals in the north, according to the Ministry of Health. Most of the deceased are children – including children no older than 15 – plus a 72-year-old man.
The most vulnerable children, particularly in the south where aid is becoming more regular, have also begun to give up.
At the Emirati hospital in Rafah, 16 premature infants have died of malnutrition-related causes in the past five weeks, a senior doctor told the Associated Press.
Adele Khader, UNICEF's director for the Middle East, said in a statement earlier this week: "The child deaths we feared are here."
Israeli bombing and ground attacks have increased the number of child casualties, who with women make up nearly three-quarters of more than 30,800 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Malnutrition usually causes death slowly, affecting children and the elderly first. Other factors play a role; mothers suffering from malnutrition find breastfeeding difficult, and Anuradha Narayan, a UNICEF child nutrition expert, said widespread diarrheal diseases in Gaza due to lack of clean water and sanitation make many unable to retain any calories they consume. Malnutrition weakens the immune system, sometimes leading to death from other diseases.
Israel has largely blocked the entry of food, water, medicine, and other supplies since its attack on Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 attack in southern Israel – allowing only a few aid trucks through two crossings in the south.
Israel blamed the worsening hunger in Gaza on United Nations agencies, saying they failed to distribute accumulated supplies at Gaza crossings. UNRWA, the biggest UN agency in Gaza, says Israel imposes restrictions on some goods and burdensome inspections that delay entry.
Distribution within Gaza has also been paralyzed, UN officials say Israeli forces regularly turn convoys back, the army often refuses safe passage amid fighting, and aid is hijacked from trucks by hungry Palestinians on the way to drop-off points.
Amid growing concern, Israel succumbed to U.S. and international pressure and said this week it would open crossings for direct aid to northern Gaza and allow sea shipments.
Despair in the North
The situation in the north, largely under Israeli control for months, has become desperate. Israeli forces have reduced entire neighborhoods in Gaza City and surrounding areas to rubble. Yet, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain.
It is almost impossible to find meat, milk, vegetables, and fruits, according to many residents who spoke to the Associated Press. The few items available in shops are random and sold at hugely inflated prices – especially nuts, snacks, and spices. People have taken chocolate barrels from bakeries and sold small amounts.
Most people eat weeds growing in vacant lands, known as "khubeiza." Fatima Shaheen, 70, living with her two sons and their children in northern Gaza, said boiled khubeiza is her main meal, and her family grinds rabbit food to use as flour.
Shaheen added: “We’re dying for a piece of bread.”
Qamar Ahmed said his 18-month-old daughter Mira mostly eats boiled weeds. Ahmed, a researcher at the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and economic journalist, said: “There is no food suitable for her age.” His 70-year-old father gives his food to Ahmed’s younger son, Alyan. Ahmed said about his father: “We try to make him eat, but he refuses.”
Mohammed Shalabi, living in Jabalia refugee camp, said he saw a man in the market give a bag of potato chips to his two sons, telling them to keep it for breakfast and lunch. Shalabi, director of the Palestinian medical aid program in northern Gaza, said, "Everyone knows I’ve lost some weight."
Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, acting head of Kamal Adwan Hospital, told the Associated Press his staff currently treats between 300 to 400 children daily, and 75% of them suffer from malnutrition.
Recent U.S. and other nations’ air-drop aid operations provide far less aid than trucks, which have become rare and sometimes dangerous. UNRWA says Israeli authorities have not allowed it to deliver supplies to the north since January 23. The World Food Program, which temporarily halted deliveries due to safety concerns, said the army forced its first convoy to the north back two weeks ago.
When the Israeli army organized a food convoy to Gaza City last week, the forces guarding the convoy opened fire – on a potential threat, the army says – as thousands of starving Palestinians gathered around the trucks. Around 120 people were killed in the shooting, as well as being trampled amid the chaos.
Worsening Conditions in the South
Yazan Al-Kafarna, 10, died Monday after nearly a week of unsuccessful treatment in Rafah city, southern Gaza Strip. Photos showed the boy extremely thin, with limbs like twigs and sunken eyes in a shrunken face down to his skull.
Al-Kafarna was born with cerebral palsy, a neurological condition affecting motor skills and making swallowing and eating difficult. His parents said they struggled to find food he could eat, including soft fruits and eggs, since fleeing their home in the north.
He died of severe muscle wasting due to food deficiency, according to Dr. Jabr Al-Shaer, head of the pediatric emergency department at Abu Yusuf Najjar Hospital.
One day, about 80 malnourished children gathered in the hospital wards. Aya Al-Fayoum, a 19-year-old displaced mother in Rafah, brought her 3-month-old daughter Nasreen, who lost much weight over winter months and suffers from persistent diarrhea and vomiting. On her diet, mainly canned goods, Al-Fayoum said she produces insufficient breast milk for Nasreen.
She said, "Everything I need is either expensive or unavailable."
Fresh food supplies in Rafah have dwindled, while its population has swelled to over a million with displaced people. The main available items are canned goods, often found in aid packages.
At the Emirati hospital, Dr. Ahmed Al-Shaer, deputy head of the neonatal unit, said recent deaths of premature infants are due to malnutrition among mothers. Malnutrition and extreme stress cause premature and low birth weight babies, doctors say, and cases have increased during the war, though there are no UN statistics.
Al-Shaer said premature babies are treated for several days to improve their weight. But they are then released to homes, often tents lacking sufficient heating, where mothers suffer severe malnutrition preventing breastfeeding and milk is difficult to obtain. Sometimes, fathers give newborns regular water instead, which is often unclean and causes diarrhea.
Al-Shaer added, “Within days, children are returned to us in terrible condition; some have been brought already dead.” He confirmed 14 children died in the hospital in February, and two more have died so far in March.
Currently, hospital wards hold 44 children under 10 days old weighing as little as 2 kilograms (4 pounds), some on life support. Each incubator holds at least three premature babies, increasing infection risk. Al-Shaer fears some may face the same fate when they return home.
He added, "We are treating them now, but only God knows what the future holds."
Comments