Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Thursday that hospitals in the Strip recorded four more starvation deaths due to the US-backed Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territory over the previous 24 hours.
“This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 197, including 96 children,” the ministry wrote on Telegram.
Among those who died of starvation on Thursday was Mohammad Zakaria Asfour, who was only 16 months old and lost his life at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Babies and toddlers are especially vulnerable since malnourished mothers are struggling to produce breast milk, and Israel has impeded the import of baby formula.
The UN on Thursday warned that child malnutrition in Gaza was at its worst level yet. “Acute malnutrition among children in Gaza has reached the highest levels recorded to date,” said UN spokesman Farhan Haq.
Amid the international outrage over its starvation campaign, Israel has allowed slightly more aid to enter Gaza, but it’s not nearly enough to avert further catastrophe. The UN and other aid groups also say that a ceasefire is needed for a proper humanitarian relief effort to provide sufficient aid and proper medical care.
“Aid that has entered remains by far insufficient, and our convoys continue to face impediments on their way to delivering aid,” Haq said. “What we need is unimpeded and predictable humanitarian access into and within Gaza, in parallel with the flow of commercial goods.”
