Child Deaths Surge in Gaza As Malnutrition, Dehydration Crisis Deepens
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached a critical point, with authorities reporting a surge in child deaths due to malnutrition and dehydration.
At least 15 children have died in recent days at Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital, prompting fears for the lives of six more children in intensive care, according to the health ministry.
"We fear for the lives of 6 (other) children suffering from malnutrition and diarrhea at the hospital's intensive care unit as a result of the cessation of the electric generator and oxygen and the weakness of medical capabilities," said Ashraf Al-Qidra, the ministry spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the UN’s children's fund warned that many more children in Gaza would die unless there is direct intervention to assist.
“Now, the child deaths we feared are here and are likely to rapidly increase unless the war ends and obstacles to humanitarian relief are immediately resolved,” said Adele Khodr, UNICEF regional director for MENA.
“The sense of helplessness and despair among parents and doctors in realizing that lifesaving aid, just a few kilometers away, is being kept out of reach, must be as unbearable, but worse still are the anguished cries of those babies slowly perishing under the world’s gaze. The lives of thousands more babies and children depend on urgent action being taken now.”
The United Nations has already warned that famine is looming in Gaza, as figures from the World Food Program (WHO) indicate that 93 percent of the population faces crisis levels of hunger.
The Israeli war on Gaza is having a catastrophic impact on children and families. Children in Gaza are dying at an alarming rate – thousands have been killed and thousands more injured.
The ongoing Israeli genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip keeps taking a heavy toll on civilians. Nearly 100 Palestinians were killed in Israel’s latest strikes on Gaza amid the worsening humanitarian crisis in the coastal territory.
The death toll from Israel’s onslaught on Gaza since early October has surpassed 30,400, most of them women and children. More than 70,000 others have been injured while thousands more remain unaccounted for.
The Tel Aviv regime has imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
