(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
The Peninsula online
Doha, Qatar: Amid sufferings brought on by unrelenting Israeli bombardment, the residents of Gaza are also facing malnutrition. A new UNICEF analysis indicated that there is a steep rise in malnutrition among children, pregnant, and breastfeeding women in the Gaza Strip.
A two-month-old child, named Mahmoud Fattouh died of malnutrition in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City after his family was unable to find milk and basic supplies. The child was rushed to the ICU due to acute malnutrition but did not survive.
Healthcare officials in Gaza also stated that signs of weakness and paleness are apparent in newborns because their mothers are malnourished, further stating that the absence of proper aid would lead to more deaths due to malnutrition.
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[11am Doha Time] Palestinian official discusses challenges facing UNRWA with French counterpart
The Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) top official for refugee affairs has met with a French diplomat to discuss the financial challenges facing the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, Wafa has reported.
Ahmed Abu Houli, the head of the PLO's Refugee Affairs Department, met French Deputy Consul Quentin Lopinot on Saturday to discuss UNRWA's difficulties amid a funding freeze by more than a dozen countries, Wafa said.
“The presence of UNRWA and the continuation of its services in its areas of operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, constitute a factor of stability in the region and a lifeline for Palestinian refugees who depend mainly on its services and food and cash assistance,” Wafa quoted Abu Houli as saying.
Lopinot said his country continued to support UNRWA and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, according to Wafa.
France is one of at least 16 countries that suspended funding to UNRWA.
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[10:45am Doha Time] Hospital in northern Gaza treating newborns for malnutrition
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of Kamal Adwan Hospital, says the facility has seen a steep rise in malnutrition cases among children, especially newborns.
“Signs of weakness and paleness are apparent on newborns because the mother is malnourished,” Abu Safiya says.
The hospital, in the northern Gaza Strip, has treated babies with advanced dehydration and other complications from malnutrition, he says.
“Unfortunately many kids have died in the past weeks.”
“If we don't get the proper aid urgently, we will be losing more and more to malnutrition.”
Palestinians flee their homes following Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 24, 2024. Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP
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[10am Doha Time] 'We have no water, no flour, and we are very tired': northern Gaza residents cut off from aid
Oum Wajdi Salha, a resident of Jabalia, has described the search for food in the northern parts of the Gaza Strip.
“We have no water, no flour and we are very tired because of hunger. Our backs and eyes hurt because of fire and smoke,” she said.
“We have become pale due to hunger and we can't stand on our feet because of hunger and lack of food,” Salha added.
A man sits amid the destruction following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 23, 2024. Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP
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[9:30am Doha Time] Baby dies after family unable to find milk in northern Gaza
A two-month-old child, named Mahmoud Fattouh, has died of malnutrition in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the Wafa news agency is reporting, citing medical sources.
Baby Mahmud died after his family was unable to find milk and basic supplies.
A paramedic who helped Mahmud's parents bring him to the hospital says,“We saw a woman carrying her baby, screaming for help. Her pale baby seemed to be taking his last breath.”
The paramedic says that they rushed Mahmud to the hospital where he was taken to the ICU with acute malnutrition but didn't survive.
Gaza City is in the northern Gaza Strip, where almost no food has been delivered since the beginning of the year, and UNRWA and the WFP have both now suspended aid activities.
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[9am Doha Time] No milk for babies in Gaza: Paediatrician
Moaz Al Majida, a paediatrician in Gaza, says that nursing mothers are unable to lactate as their health worsens, affecting the health of their babies.
“Children are also eating food that lacks essential nutrients for their growth,” Al Majida added.
Earlier this week, a new analysis from UNICEF and other aid organisations said that“a steep rise in malnutrition among children and pregnant and breastfeeding women in the Gaza strip poses grave threats to their health”.
“The Gaza Strip is poised to witness an explosion in preventable child deaths which would compound the already unbearable level of child deaths in Gaza,” said UNICEF's deputy executive director for humanitarian action and supply operations, Ted Chaiban.
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[8:30am Doha Time] 'Increased airstrikes in Rafah' hurting 'overstretched' aid efforts: UNRWA
The latest situation report from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said that“increased airstrikes in Rafah have heightened fears for the already“overstretched humanitarian operations” in the southern Gaza city.
UNRWA also said that thousands of Palestinians are still fleeing to Rafah after weeks of“intense fighting in and around” neighbouring Khan Younis.
The report comes as Israeli forces have killed at least seven people, including a child, in an attack on central Rafah.
Rafah has become densely overcrowded with almost 1.5 million people sheltering there, according to UNRWA.
Rafah is also the only location through which aid trucks are entering the Gaza Strip but UNRWA says fewer than 35 trucks entered the besieged enclave on average per day last week.
On Friday, UNRWA spokesperson Adnan Abu Hasna told Al Jazeera that the agency is no longer able to provide assistance in northern Gaza.
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