Malnutrition and starvation kills 21 Palestinian children in past 72 hours
Malnutrition and starvation kills 21 Palestinian children in past 72 hours
M.U.H
22/07/202523
At least 21 children died from "malnutrition and starvation" across the Gaza Strip in the past 72 hours, the head of the Al-Shifa Hospital confirms.
Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of the Al-Shifa hospital said on Tuesday that, “These deaths were recorded at various hospitals in Gaza, including Al-Shifa in Gaza City, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah and Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.”
Abu Salmiya warned that new cases of malnutrition and starvation were arriving "every moment" at Gaza’s remaining functioning hospitals.
“We are heading towards alarming numbers of deaths due to the starvation inflicted on the people of Gaza,” he added.
Over 900,000 children in Gaza are currently facing hunger, with at least 70,000 entering the stage of clinical malnutrition.
Gaza’s civil defense agency reported on Sunday that at least three infants died from “severe hunger and malnutrition” in the past week.
Various medical sources across Gaza have confirmed that the cases of severe hunger and malnutrition are continuously growing.
A “terrifying surge in fatalities” is imminent, they warned, as the humanitarian crisis deepens under the Israeli regime’s blockade and ongoing military escalation.
They further stressed that patients with chronic conditions including diabetes and kidney disease are increasingly at risk, with many suffering life-threatening complications caused by prolonged starvation.
“The deliberate starvation of civilians is causing widespread medical emergencies … This is not just a crisis, it is a collapse of human survival conditions in Gaza,” a Palestinian health worker said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that “the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing” in Gaza, and that there were growing reports of adults and children suffering from severe malnutrition.
World Food Program's (WFP) Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Carl Skau, who visited Gaza City in early July, called the situation “the worst” that he had ever seen.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), all major regions of Gaza suffer from Phase 4 famine (Emergency Level), which means households have large food consumption gaps, high levels of malnutrition, and excess mortality.
On Monday, more than two dozen countries, including Israeli allies, Australia, Britain, Canada, and France, urged an immediate end to the war and the free flow of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.
Since the start of Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza on October 7, 2023, the regime has murdered more than 59,106 Palestinians and wounded 142,511, most of whom are children and women.
