“There has been no improvement at all. Even when she gains one kilogram and I take her home from the hospital, she relapses again. There is no food for her to eat, not even eggs.
“Her hair is falling out, and she has no calcium. She used to have seizures, and she can’t go to the bathroom by herself, I have to carry her. She can’t walk. She starts crying and asks me, ‘Why can’t I walk? What’s wrong with me?’”
Eight-year-old Maryam.Credit: UNICEF
On Wednesday, more than 100 aid organisations and human rights groups warned that “mass starvation” is spreading in Gaza.
The statement, signed by 111 organisations including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Oxfam and Save the Children, said that an average of 28 truckloads of aid are being distributed daily in Gaza. The UN has previously said that a minimum of 600 trucks per day are required to feed the population of 2 million people.
Israel denies blocking supplies to Gaza or that there is a famine there.
“We have not identified starvation at this current point in time, but we understand that action is required to stabilise the humanitarian situation,” an unnamed senior Israeli security official said.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Tuesday that 33 people, including 12 children, had died from malnutrition in the previous 48 hours.
Data shared with the London Telegraph by UNICEF suggests the situation has been rapidly worsening in recent months.
In January, 2846 children were diagnosed with malnutrition – a figure that has jumped month on month, to 5870 in June.
Suzan Mohammad Ma’rouf, a clinical nutrition specialist stationed at the Patients Society Hospital, said her staff see nearly 250 to 300 malnutrition cases daily.
Palestinian child Yazan Abu Foul, 2, who is suffering from severe malnutrition, is held by his mother, Naima.Credit: EPA
“Infants, breastfeeding mothers, and pregnant women who suffer from malnutrition, there is not enough milk and not enough food,” Ma’rouf said.
“We encourage exclusive breastfeeding for children under six months of age, but due to certain conditions the mother may be going through, whether her health is poor or she is suffering from malnutrition, she cannot breastfeed naturally.
“In that case, we turn to formula milk. But currently, formula milk is unavailable or only available in very limited quantities that do not meet the baby’s needs, which leads to children suffering from malnutrition.”
Randa – the mother of three-month-old Baraa – has four other young children.
Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, 1, is facing life-threatening malnutrition. Having dropped from nine to six kilograms, he struggles to survive in a tent in Gaza City, where milk, food, and other basic necessities are lacking.Credit: Anadolu via Getty Images
“They cry out from hunger […] every morning, asking me to knead dough and bake bread. They tell me, ‘We’re hungry, Mama’.”
Virtually all food aid in Gaza is now only available at just four fixed distribution points along the 41-kilometre strip, run exclusively by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
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At least 1026 people have been killed by the military while seeking food at GHF centres, the UN has said.
The Telegraph, London
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