‘Children are going through rubbish for food’
Christy Black, an Australian nurse volunteering at a hospital in Gaza City for four weeks, has described the scenes of desperation she’s witnessed.
“We thought we knew what we were coming into, but nothing can prepare you for what you see on the ground,” Black told Al Jazeera. “We’re seeing children going through the rubbish trying to find something to eat … Children who might be nine or 10 years old that look like two-year-olds.”
She said people’s wounds are “not healing because of malnourishment” and there is a big uptick in respiratory illnesses because of the “massive amounts of bombs being dropped on Gaza City and the rest of Gaza”.
“It is so catastrophic here,” she said. “I don’t know of any kind of healthcare service in the world that would be able to deal with what we’re seeing.”
However, Black praised the health workers in Gaza who she said are working with all their energy day after day “to provide the best kind of healthcare they can. Our colleagues are just amazing.”
Babies struggling to survive without enough breast-milk, formula
Christy Black, an Australian nurse volunteering in Gaza City, says the hospital she’s based in is short of “every kind of medical supply”. That includes formula for pregnant women who require nasogastric feeding – leaving many without the nutrients needed to lactate – as well as baby formula, she said.
“Our most vulnerable are dying,” Black told Al Jazeera. “We’ve seen a couple of babies die over the last couple of days in Gaza City. It’s really desperate here.”
Palestinian on bike tries to flee falling debris after Israeli attack on Gaza
Dramatic footage shows the aftermath of an Israeli attack on northern Gaza – watch it below:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FEX-tpt82CQ
Gaza death toll rises
Gaza’s Ministry of Health says at least 88 bodies and 365 wounded people have arrived at hospitals over the past 24 hours.
Since Israel broke a truce agreed with Hamas on March 18, at least 6,175 Palestinians have been killed and more than 21,378 wounded.
The confirmed total death toll from Israeli attacks since the start of the war in October 2023 has now risen to at least 56,500 with 133,419 people wounded.
Israeli soldier killed in northern Gaza, military says
The Israeli military has named the soldier as 20-year-old Sergeant Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld. He was a member of the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion. His death brings the total number of Israeli soldiers killed in combat since the Gaza war broke out to 880, according to Israeli figures.
At least 580 aid seekers killed by Israel
The number of aid seekers killed by Israeli forces near aid distribution points in Gaza now stands at 580, the Government Media Office says. At least 4,216 Palestinians have also been wounded while 39 are missing, it said.
