Copy in clipboard...
21 Palestinian children die of malnutrition, starvation in three days
UN chief brands Gaza as ‘horror show’
Gaza's population of more than two million people is facing severe shortages of food and other essentials, with residents frequently killed as they try to collect humanitarian aid at a handful of distribution points. "Twenty-one children have died due to malnutrition and starvation in various areas across the Gaza Strip," Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, told reporters. Abu Salmiya told reporters that new cases of malnutrition and starvation were arriving at Gaza's remaining functioning hospitals "every moment.”
"We are heading towards alarming numbers of deaths due to the starvation inflicted on the people of Gaza," he added. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Gaza a "horror show" in a speech on Tuesday, with "a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times".
After talks to extend a six-week cease-fire broke down, Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza on March 2 this year, allowing nothing in until trucks were again permitted to enter at a trickle in late May. However, stocks accumulated during the cease-fire have gradually depleted, leaving the territory's inhabitants experiencing the worst shortages since the start of the war in October 2023.
Chaotic scenes have become frequent at aid distribution areas since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began overseeing aid operations. The UN on Tuesday said Israeli forces had killed over 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the GHF began its operations.
The head of the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday that its staff members as well as doctors and humanitarian workers are fainting on duty due to hunger and exhaustion.
Lazzarini described the situation in Gaza as “hell on earth”, adding that nowhere was safe.
Most of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once during the Israel’s onslaught on the Palestinian territory since 2023.
Israel's strikes on Gaza have killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the territory.