Children in Gaza injured by Israeli attacks face severe malnourishment
Mosab al-Dibs has been receiving treatment at Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital for about two months after a severe injury to his head when an Israeli air attack struck his family’s tent in May.
The 14-year-old is largely paralysed and severely malnourished because the facility no longer has supplies to feed him.
“Mosab does not suffer from anything or any disease. Mosab suffers from severe malnutrition. He suffers convulsions as a result of a hit that affected his brain,” his mother, Shahinaz al-Dibs, told Al Jazeera.
Hunched over his emaciated frame and gaunt face, she lovingly strokes his cheek, soothing him as she tells him he is going to be OK.
The UN says the effect of hunger building over this time is quickly worsening, especially in Gaza City and the northern region, and doctors are struggling to provide care.
“There are not enough nutritional supplements. We have some children that we keep in the hospital to observe due to extreme malnutrition,” Dr Suzan Marour, a doctor at the Friends of the Patient Society Hospital in the Remal neighbourhood in Gaza City, said.
Nine-year-old malnourished Palestinian girl Mariam Dawwas sits on the floor with her mother in Remal neighbourhood in Gaza City on August 2
Eight more Palestinians die from forced starvation in Gaza
Gaza’s Ministry of Health says hospitals in the besieged territory have recorded eight new deaths due to famine and malnutrition over the past 24 hours, including one child.
This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition in the Gaza Strip since Israel’s war began to 188, including 94 children.
Gaza death toll rises
At least 79 Palestinians, including 52 aid seekers, have been killed and 644 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
The count includes eight people – one child and seven adults – who starved to death in the past 24 hours, it said, raising the hunger-related death toll to 188, including 94 children.
Eight bodies were also recovered from the rubble of previous Israeli attacks, the ministry statement said on Telegram.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed a total of 61,020 Palestinians and injured 150,671 since October 7, 2023, the ministry added.
The total number of aid seekers killed since May 27, when Israel introduced a new aid distribution mechanism through the controversial GHF, has reached 1,568, with more than 11,230 injured, the statement said.
Israeli forces kill 6 aid seekers at GHF site in central Gaza
There has been a very disturbing development that took place this morning near an aid point run by the GHF located near the Netzarim Corridor.
Six Palestinians were killed in the attack, while nine others were reported injured, and they were taken to Gaza’s nearby hospitals, including al-Awda Hospital and Al-Aqsa Hospital in northern Gaza.
They sustained different kinds of injuries in the upper and lower parts of their bodies, and witnesses describe chaotic scenes unfolding near the controversial aid centre, confirming that Israel has sporadically opened fire on them, forcing everyone to flee the area after a very short period in which aid seekers could attempt to grab some food boxes.
This has been a scenario that has repeated every single morning, not just in the central part of Gaza, but also in the southern areas.
