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SvennoJ on 02 June 2024
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‘Gaza is witnessing the worst of the worst levels of malnutrition’

Save the Children’s Alexandra Saieh says aid organisations fear the situation in Gaza may worsen. “Gaza is witnessing the worst of the worst levels of malnutrition, especially child malnutrition, and it’s entirely man-made,” Saieh told Al Jazeera.

“Children in Gaza are being starved, they are being deprived of clean water and they are being deprived of adequate medical assistance. And this is all being fuelled by the systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid and the ongoing hostility. A medical point in Tal as-Sultan [Rafah], which was addressing malnutrition, had to close this past week due to [Israeli] attacks in the area.”

Of the 36,000 Palestinians killed by Israel since October 7, 15,000 are children.

Saieh said there might be “an acceleration of deaths due to malnutrition, starvation, disease and dehydration, possibly even higher than what we are already seeing, which is just the tip of the iceberg”.

“We actually fear that the situation is much worse. Back in March, the UN warned of a famine, and we have not as humanitarian organisations been given the access to stave off that famine.”


A Palestinian child suffering from malnutrition receives treatment with limited facilities at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Saturday

1,858 aid trucks entered Gaza over past week, says Israel

In its weekly summary, the Israeli army said 1,858 trucks carrying humanitarian aid had entered the Gaza Strip via the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and Western Erez crossings.

The numbers included 764 Egyptian trucks, 312 flour trucks by the World Food Programme and 124 Jordanian trucks.

Thirteen tankers also carried “over half a million litres of fuel” into the besieged enclave.


Yet even if true, it's clearly not getting anywhere. Where are these trucks, and why are they not reporting amounts (tons) anymore.
And half a million liters, that fills up 1,600 trucks or 5 days of critical functions in hospitals if it can be delivered at all.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/at-least-94-000-liters-of-fuel-needed-daily-to-keep-critical-functions-running-at-major-gaza-hospitals-who/3034513

Humanitarian crisis worsens as Israel continues to curb aid deliveries to Gaza

  • Hundreds of aid trucks are stuck in Egypt with food supplies rotting for weeks after Israel took control of the crucial Rafah crossing last month.
  • Pressure is mounting on Israel and Egypt to reopen the crossing, which connects Gaza to Egypt, to allow aid deliveries. Officials from Egypt, the US and Israel are set to meet in Cairo to address the issue.
  • The US built a $320m floating pier to deliver aid but it was washed away within weeks. The US, Jordan and several other countries also dropped aid by planes amid the unprecedented hunger situation in the Palestinian enclave.
  • Even before Israel took control of Rafah, the number of aid trucks entering Gaza was way below the requirement. The UN says at least 500 to 600 trucks are required daily to feed millions of people on the brink of starvation. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global hunger monitor, has warned of an imminent famine in parts of Gaza, home to 2.3 million people.
  • Another crossing that Israel controls, Karem Abu Salem (known as Kerem Shalom in Israel), remains functionally closed, according to aid workers from multiple aid organisations.
  • A daily average of just eight aid trucks enter Gaza through Karem Abu Salem since it reopened on May 8.
  • Empty trucks from Gaza en route to load aid at Karem Abu Salem often wait for hours behind commercial trucks carrying goods to sell in Gaza, which officials say number more than 100 or 200 per day, according to The New York Times newspaper.
Cogat seems to be lying out of their ass. It's not aid trucks that enter, commercial trucks get through to fleece money from the desperate population.


Children suffering from malnutrition receive limited healthcare at Deir el-Balah hospital



An injured Palestinian baby suffering from malnutrition receives treatment with limited facilities at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah in Gaza on June 1, 2024. Aid groups say the risk of Palestinian children dying from malnutrition and thirst in the Gaza Strip has increased due to the relentless Israeli bombardment for the past eight months and curbs on humanitarian aid.


Amira al-Jojo holds her 10-month-old son Yousef, who suffers from malnutrition, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment


Gaza is witnessing the worst levels of malnutrition, according to Save the Children’s Alexandra Saieh

‘Nowhere near enough’ resources in Gaza, says Norwegian Refugee Council

Ahmed Bayram, spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council, says they haven’t had “any supplies” make it through the crossings into Gaza for the past month.

“We’re relying on our ever-depleting resources on the ground. It’s nowhere near enough, [we] had big promises of more aid, for safety of our aid workers which my team in Gaza describe as a big fallacy,” Bayram told Al Jazeera.

“The closure of the nine possible potential crossings is a catastrophe … We hear on a daily basis from our teams that children are sleeping on the sands because there are no tents left, they are drinking unsafe water all day long and they are eating very very little,” he said.