Over One-Hundred international aid organisations and human rights groups are warning of mass starvation in Gaza and pressing for governments to take action.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Save the Children, and Oxfam are among the signatories of a joint statement that says their colleagues and the people they serve are “wasting away”.
Starvation has rendered children hopeless to the extent that children are now begging their parents to allow them to die, the BBC reports: ‘Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least heaven has food.’
Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into the territory, rejected the organisation’s statement and accused it of “serving the propaganda of Hamas”.
Their warning came as Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said another 10 Palestinians had died as a result of malnutrition in the last 24 hours.
That brings the number of such deaths across Gaza since Sunday to 43, according to the ministry.
Photo: By Reuters
The UN has reported that hospitals have admitted people in a state of severe exhaustion caused by a lack of food, and that others are collapsing in the streets.
“As the Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families,” the 109 humanitarian organisations said in the statement published on Wednesday.
“With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.”
Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the armed group to release its remaining Israeli hostages.
Although the blockade was partially eased after almost two months, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, the shortages of food, medicine and fuel have worsened.
“Doctors report record rates of acute malnutrition, especially among children and older people. Illnesses like acute watery diarrhoea are spreading, markets are empty, waste is piling up, and adults are collapsing on the streets from hunger and dehydration,” the humanitarian organisations warned.
“An aid worker providing psychosocial support spoke of the devastating impact on children: ‘Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least heaven has food.'”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said its assessments show that a quarter of the population is facing famine-like conditions, and that almost 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and need treatment as soon as possible.
Its director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday:
“As you know, mass starvation means starvation of a large proportion of a population, and a large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving.
“I don’t know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it’s artificial.
“And that’s very clear, this is because of the blockade.”
Dr Ahmad al-Farra, the head of paediatrics at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, told the BBC that no food had been available for three days.
He said children come to his unit going through varying degrees of starvation.
Some were malnourished and died in the hospital’s care, he added. Others came with separate health issues that prevented nutrients from being absorbed by their bodies.
“We were afraid we would reach this critical point – and now we have,” he said.
The shortages of basic supplies have caused prices at local markets to skyrocket, leaving most families unable to afford anything.
“It’s outrageous – prices are on fire,” one Gaza resident said. “Every day we need 300 shekels ($90; £66.50) just for flour.”
