Israel’s ‘weapon of starvation' kills 16 children in Gaza

By Mustafa Haboush

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Children are suffering immensely from Israel’s siege of Gaza, with more than 13,000 killed in the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

They are increasingly dying due to malnutrition and a poor health care system, which has been badly affected by Israel’s devastating onslaught as of Oct. 7.

As of Monday, Anadolu had documented the deaths of 16 young Palestinians due to malnutrition.

Statistics show that towns and cities in the northern part of the Gaza Strip including Gaza City, Beit Lahia, Jabalia and Beit Hanoun rank first in terms of child deaths due to malnutrition and dehydration, with 15 children in northern Gaza dying and one child in Rafah in the southern strip.

Last week, the Health Ministry announced the deaths of two infants as a result of malnutrition and dehydration at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern part of the enclave.

The hospital has witnessed a high infant mortality rate from malnutrition and dehydration as well as due to the shutdown of the facility from a lack of fuel for its generators.

The following is a list of recent child deaths in Gaza:

- Mira Saleh Abdel-Nabi (2 years old).

- Two unnamed infants to mother Heba Ziyadah (33 days old, 40 days old).

- Mennatallah Abu Amerah (6 months old).

- Sahar al-Zebdaa (40 days old).

- Khaled Ahmed Hijazi (two and a half years old).

- Mohammed al-Zaygh (45 days old).

- Mahmoud Ghaben (1 year old).

- Unnamed boy to mother Hanan Eliwa (2 years old).

- Ibrahim al-Batesh (3 years old).

- Anwar al-Khoudary (9 months old).

- Mosab Abu Aser (Age unknown).

- Unnamed girl to mother Nesma Khalaf (14 days old).

- Abdel-Aziz Salem (2 months old). Died under complications of preterm delivery.

- Yousef Sami al-Taramsi (6 months old).

- Yazan al-Kafarneh (10 years old). Yazan died on Monday in Rafah after 10 days in the hospital.

His family fled their hometown of Beit amid the Israeli war, during which Yazan lost his weight due to the severe malnutrition he endured.

In commenting on the children's deaths, Kamal Adwan Hospital's director Hussam Abu Safiya said the northern Gaza Strip is suffering "a genuine starvation."

"A lot of children come to the hospital with complications of malnutrition," he told Anadolu.

The Palestinian doctor urged the World Health Organization and other international aid organizations to seriously work to bring food aid into the northern Gaza Strip.

He said last week that Kamal Adwan Hospital went out of service due to a lack of fuel and scarcity of medical supplies.

As a result of the Israeli war and the tightened siege on the northern Gaza Strip, there is a severe shortage of food supplies, pushing many there to eat animal fodder.

The Gaza-based Health Ministry on Thursday accused Israel of committing the "systematic killing" of around 700,000 Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip, whether by directly targeting them or through starvation.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed 30,534 people and injured 71,920 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar