Gaza residents cornered amid intensified Israeli attacks
I don’t recall sleeping last night, like everyone else. We were all awake, anxious about what was going to happen next. The sounds of armoured vehicles and tanks could be clearly heard well past midnight, accompanied by relentless attacks from heavy artillery.
These days, the Israeli military tends to intensify its assaults through the night, causing even more panic and fear among an already traumatised and displaced population.
The prospect of being displaced yet again looms over us, as the majority of people are now cornered and crammed into a small area in the western part of Gaza City.
Most people here have already been forced from the northern part of the Strip, especially from Jabalia and its surroundings.
The population has been pushed into further internal displacement and finds it extremely difficult, nearly impossible, to evacuate to the central or southern parts of Gaza, simply because there is no safe place left.
Israeli forces destroy homes in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that Israeli air strikes have destroyed two homes in the Abu Iskandar area of the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City.
The Israeli military is pushing deeper into the city, destroying entire neighbourhoods and leaving Palestinian families with nowhere safe to go, as it seeks to seize the Strip’s largest urban centre.
Israel allowing just 14 percent of food required in Gaza: Media Office
Gaza’s Government Media Office says starvation in Gaza is intensifying due to ongoing Israeli restrictions on food and aid deliveries.
“The Israeli occupation authorities continue to commit a systematic starvation crime against the population of the Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.
“The number of victims of hunger and malnutrition has risen to 313 martyrs, including 119 children,” the statement added, cautioning that the crisis is most alarming for “children, the sick, and the elderly”.
The Media Office noted that the Israeli army has closed all crossings and banned the entry of 430 essential food items. Over the past month, only 14 percent of the required supplies were allowed in, “leaving an 86 percent shortfall in aid”, it added.
Doctor describes challenges of treating acute malnutrition patients in Gaza
Ahmed Alfarra, the director of paediatrics and the maternity department at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, says the facility receives malnutrition cases every day.
“Severe acute malnutrition is one of the most difficult and challenging conditions for doctors to treat. It is not easy – it is unlike pneumonia, meningitis, or acute pharyngotonsillitis,” he told Al Jazeera. “Most paediatric diseases require seven to 10 days of treatment before the patient can be discharged.”
In contrast, Alfarra said those with severe acute malnutrition may need to be hospitalised for one, two, or even three months, together with long-term follow-up.
If left untreated, Alfarra said malnutrition in children could lead to “permanent” changes. “That means, even if food becomes available for this patient, they may not fully recover,” he said.
“For example, if they have an issue affecting their growth hormone – such as a growth hormone deficiency – they may experience short stature in the future. Even with food being available, they may never reach their potential height.”
