Gaza hunger crisis ripples across health sector as Israeli blockade endures

By Hatem Khaled, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Olivia Le Poidevin

GAZA/CAIRO/GENEVA (Reuters) - Palestinian baby Jenan Alskafi died in Gaza on Saturday after malnutrition and digestive problems, which her doctor said could not be treated because of a total Israeli blockade that aid agencies believe is undermining the entire population's health.

The four-month-old needed hypoallergenic milk formula - a normally common product now absent in Gaza - to help her with chronic diarrhea that caused malnutrition and left her too weak to fight infection, her doctor Ragheb Warsh Agha said from the Rantissi hospital in northern Gaza where Jenan died.

"I was torn into a thousand pieces," said Jenan's mother Aya Alskafi, describing the death of her baby, whose name means "paradise" in Arabic and who, according to her doctor, lost nearly half her bodyweight in her final days.

Israel cut most supplies into Gaza when the war began on October 7, 2023 with a Hamas attack, and although it allowed more aid into the enclave during a ceasefire from January, it imposed a total blockade when its devastating and deadly military campaign resumed in March.

The Israeli prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on malnutrition levels in Gaza and reports that vulnerable people, including children requiring supplements, had died as a result of the blockade.

Israeli officials have said they do not believe Gaza faces a hunger crisis, that enough aid has entered to sustain the enclave's population, and that they want to stop supplies coming under the control of Hamas.

Israel has also said it plans to expand its military campaign, causing deepening distress for displaced Gazans as Israeli forces carried out more airstrikes and demolished buildings in Rafah on Wednesday, according to local residents.

With Gaza's fields inaccessible to civilians and its seas barred to fishermen, the territory depends almost entirely on food from outside, but the last delivery Israel allowed was on March 2, the final day of the ceasefire.

The United Nations and international aid agencies warn of an unfolding catastrophe, with U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA saying more than 2 million people - most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million - face severe food shortages.

Malnutrition is severely affecting children, pregnant women and people with chronic conditions, while also delaying the recovery of patients with serious war injuries, as aid stocks near depletion, several agencies said.

"The situation is getting worse every day. We have between 9,000-10,000 children who are treated for malnutrition," said Jonathan Crickx, communications head at the U.N. children's agency UNICEF.

Hunger is a particular problem because as well as hindering children's cognitive and physical development it weakens their immune systems, and nearly all Gaza's people are homeless from the destruction caused by Israel's air and ground war.

"You have a big pile of rubbish on top of which children are digging for a little bit of food. This is extremely concerning because it will definitely increase the number of children dying from preventable diseases," Crickx said.

The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 65,000 children have shown symptoms of malnutrition. The Gaza government media office said at least 57 people, mostly children, had died as a result of malnutrition since Israel closed the crossings on March 2. Both official bodies are run by Hamas.

The Israeli prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the numbers.

MALNUTRITION

Hunger is not only aggravating health problems for children.

Medical charity MSF said it was seeing an increase in patients coming to hospitals with chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension who lack enough food or food with sufficient protein, nutrients and vitamins.

An MSF clinic in Gaza City has also seen more patients coming for treatment of severe wounds, their conditions worsened by lack of access to food and clean water, the charity said.

"We have to keep cases for months in the hospital while in a normal situation, they would have been treated in a few weeks," said MSF medical coordinator Julie Faucon.

There are 350,000 patients with chronic conditions in Gaza, including cancer and diabetes, according to U.N. data.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the local affiliate of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, said it had no medication left for heart disease, hypertension or diabetes, and no stocks of nutritional supplements or infant formula.

"Ambulances can barely run. Without food, water, medical supplies, or fuel, survival is becoming even more difficult. Humanitarian aid must enter into the Gaza Strip," it said in a statement to Reuters.

Pregnant women are at particular risk. "We stand up and get dizzy due to a lack of food. There are no eggs, meat, food, or drink. We are tired. We came to get pills, if we can find them, just so we can stand and move," said Ola al-Kafarna, a displaced pregnant woman.

Between 10-20% of 4,500 surveyed pregnant and breastfeeding women are malnourished, the World Health Organization reported in April. Malnourished pregnant women face issues including anemia, fatigue and preterm labour.

"They (mothers) are not getting enough calories a day and they are not producing milk. It's very difficult at the same time to find infant formula," Faucon said.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Olivia Le Poidevin; additional reporting by Hatem Khaled and Ebrahim Hajaj in Gaza and Ismail Khader in Ramallah; editing by Angus McDowall, Aidan Lewis and Mark Heinrich)