Gaza children now suffering from severe dehydration and malnutrition while Israel denies access for aid convoys

By lauraharris // 2024-03-22

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Starving children in the Gaza Strip are now filling the region's hospital wards as they suffer from severe dehydration and malnutrition amid Israel's ongoing genocidal campaign. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), a UN agency that provides humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide, almost one out of every three children under two years old in Gaza suffers from severe malnutrition. This number has doubled since January. The agency also discovered that 4.5 percent of children had severe wasting, which is the most dangerous type of malnutrition. (Related: 40 percent of Palestinians killed in Gaza are children.) Six-year-old Fadi al-Zant, a young boy suffering from cystic fibrosis, lies emaciated in Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, his ribs protruding under his skin, his eyes sunken and his body raved due to acute malnutrition. Before the conflict, Fadi was receiving vital medication and a balanced diet to manage his condition. However, access to medication and nutritious food has become increasingly limited due to escalating violence. The situation is not unique to Fadi. Based on the data from the Health Ministry in Gaza, more than two dozen children have already succumbed to malnutrition and dehydration in recent weeks, with many more at risk. The Kamal Adwan Hospital, along with other medical facilities across Gaza, is overwhelmed with the influx of severe malnutrition. At the al-Awda health center in Rafah, scenes of desperation unfold daily as mothers struggle to nourish their malnourished infants amid dwindling supplies of milk and basic necessities. Fadi's family, like many others, have been displaced multiple times by Israel's relentless and indiscriminate bombing campaign. They find themselves trapped in a cycle of despair, unable to access lifesaving resources for their ailing family members, especially the women and children.

Gaza on the brink of famine as calls for ceasefire grow

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global hunger watchdog, has warned that, without urgent intervention, famine could strike northern Gaza anytime between now and May. "Famine is now projected and imminent in the North Gaza and Gaza Governorates and is expected to become manifest during the projection period from mid-March 2024 to May 2024," the report said. According to the assessment of the IPC, which relies on UN agencies, 70 percent of people in Gaza are suffering from the most severe level of food shortage. This figure is more than triple the 20 percent threshold required to classify an area as experiencing famine. The IPC estimated that residents would soon be dying at famine-scale levels, defined as two people out of every 10,000 perishing daily from starvation or related causes. The IPC also calculated that, if Israel goes ahead with a promised offensive in Rafah, around half of the 1.1 million Gazans would experience "catastrophic" food shortages. The global hunger watchdog calls for an immediate ceasefire and a surge in humanitarian aid. "The actions needed to prevent famine require an immediate political decision for a ceasefire together with a significant and immediate increase in humanitarian and commercial access to the entire population of Gaza." Watch this video about innocent children in Gaza getting bombed by Israeli forces. This video is from the channel The Prisoner on Brighteon.com.

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Gaza on the brink of famine as calls for ceasefire grow

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