15 Palestinians die of hunger, malnutrition in Gaza in 24 hours

CAIRO/GAZA: A six-week-old infant was among 15 people who have died of starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, local health officials said, with malnutrition now killing Palestinians faster than at any point in the 21-month war.

The infant died at a hospital ward in northern Gaza, the health officials said, naming him as Yousef al-Safadi. Three of the others were also children, including 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, who died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. The other two children were not named. Palestinian health officials say at least 101 people have died of hunger during the conflict, including 80 children, with most of them in recent weeks.

Israel controls all aid supplies into the war-ravaged enclave, where most of the population has been displaced multiple times and faces acute shortages of basic necessities. The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday that its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion.


"No one is spared: caretakers in Gaza are also in need of care. Doctors, nurses, journalists and humanitarians are hungry," UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.

There has been international condemnation of mass killings of civilians and dire shortages of aid in Gaza, but no action that has yet stopped the conflict, or significantly increased supplies.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that images of civilians killed during the distribution of aid were "unbearable" and urged Israel to deliver on pledges to improve the situation, but did not say what action European countries would take.

FOOD AND MEDICINE SHORTAGES
"Hospitals are already overwhelmed by the number of casualties from gunfire. They can't provide much more help for hunger-related symptoms because of food and medicine shortages," said Khalil al-Deqran, a spokesperson for the health ministry.

Deqran said some 600,000 people were suffering from malnutrition, including at least 60,000 pregnant women. Symptoms among those going hungry include dehydration and anaemia, he said. Baby formula in particular is in critically short supply, according to aid groups, doctors and residents.

Israel says its assault on Gaza aims to destroy Hamas, which waged the deadliest attack in Israel's history on October 7, 2023, killing at least 1,200 Israelis.