WHO moves 10 trucks of medical aid to Gaza amid soaring health needs
The World Health Organization (WHO) has sent 10 trucks loaded with medical supplies into Gaza.
“WHO has moved 10 trucks from Al-Arish in Egypt to the Kerem Shalom crossing for Gaza, carrying essential medicines, laboratory and water testing supplies,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, adding more aid is on the way.
“The health needs in Gaza are immense. A continuous flow of medical supplies is critical.”
Tedros called on Israel to allow unimpeded humanitarian access and urged a halt to hostilities. “We continue to call for sustained, safe, and unhindered access for medical aid into and across Gaza and for a ceasefire.”
‘She starved. We stood helpless’
A two-year-old girl being treated for a build-up of brain fluid died overnight from hunger in central Gaza. “Mekkah, my little daughter, died of malnutrition and the lack of medication,” her father Salah al-Gharably said from Deir el-Balah.
“Doctors said the baby has to be fed a certain type of milk … but there is no milk. She starved. We stood helpless.”
‘It’s only skin on top of bones’
In a malnutrition ward at Nasser Hospital, mothers watch over their babies lying still and largely silent, too exhausted from severe hunger to cry. The quiet is common in places treating the most acutely malnourished, doctors said, a sign of their bodies shutting down.
“We need milk for babies. We need medical supplies. We need some food, special food for [the] nutritional department,” said Dr Ahmed al-Farra, head of the paediatric and maternity department. “We need everything for the hospitals.”
Al-Farra highlighted the case of Wateen Abu Amounah, born healthy three months ago and now weighing 100g (3.5oz) less than she weighed at birth.
“There is total loss of muscles. It’s only skin on top of bones, which is an indication that the child has entered a severe malnutrition phase. Even the face of the child, she has lost fat tissue from her cheeks.”
A nurse examines a malnourished child at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis
