Children dying from malnutrition as food blockaded, Gaza aid worker says
Palestinian children wait in front of a food distribution truck at a displacement camp near Gaza City’s port, on Thursday.
Photo: AFP/ Omar Al-Qattaa
Save the Children says 20 children have died from malnutrition in Gaza in the last few days
Speaking to Checkpoint from Deir al-Balah in Gaza, Rachel Cummings the agency’s Humanitarian Director for the area, said lack of food for pregnant women was also of particular concern, and parents were using grass and dirty water to try to “bulk out” what food they had to help those suffering from hunger.
More than 90 truckloads of humanitarian aid have now made it into Gaza after an almost three-month blockade by Israel. The aid, including flour, baby food and medical equipment, had been taken to warehouses for distribution.
But aid agencies say the delivery was nowhere near enough to meet the population’s needs, and people remained desperate for food.
On average 500 supply trucks had entered Gaza each day before the war.
The situation meant half a million Gazans were facing possible starvation with catastrophic levels of hunger, while 1 million others had barely enough food, according to UN-backed food security measures.
“It’s desperate – every child I meet, every child I see is hungry – and mothers are telling us that they just cry all the time asking for food,” Cummings said.
“Mothers are having to resort to extreme coping mechanisms to try and bulk out whatever food they can find – adding grass, bulking out with water that they know is dirty, feeding their children late at night so at least they hope they can sleep with the feeling of being full – but it’s absolutely desperate.
“And of course we’re thinking about the immediate impacts for children, but the medium-longterm impacts on children’s physical and mental health is very very concerning.”
Israel has blocked all food, shelter and medicines from entering the Gaza Strip for almost three months, as it continued ground and air offences on the Palestinian territory.
Crowds reach out for food as it is distributed at a displacement camp near Gaza City’s port, on 22 May.
Photo: AFP/ Omar Al-Qattaa
“The total population of Gaza – 2 million people – is at risk of famine… any supplies entering Gaza are very much needed,” Cummings said.
“We know that [the latest 90 trucks of supplies] is just not enough – there’s been no medicines, no food, no equipment for water, no tents and shelter has entered Gaza for over 11 weeks.
“The compounding factors in Gaza are so complex: You have this ongoing hostility and conflict. Just since 15 May just a week [ago], 172,000 people have been displaced in North and South Gaza. It’s really a horrific situation here.
A Palestinian boy scrapes off bits of lentil soup remaining in a cooking pot, in front of a food distribution point at a displacement camp near Gaza City’s port on 22 May.
Photo: AFP/ Omar Al-Qattaa
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