‘My son Ali has already died’: Father’s plea for Gaza’s starving children

Ali was born in wartime and there was no food or anything for his mother to eat - a matter which caused his kidneys to fail. His life got worse day after day. We tried to get him treated at hospitals, but there were no help. The UN warns of famine if aid deliveries are not substantially increased.

Ali was one of at least 10 children who died as a result of a lack of food at the overwhelmed Kamal Adwan hospital in the town of Beit Lahia. The World Health Organisation team visited the hospital following a visit over the weekend. The Hamas-run health ministry has reported the deaths of 18 children due to malnutrition and dehydration across the territory since last week. Unicef fears for six infants being treated for malnutrition at hospital.

More than 30,700 people have been killed and 72,000 others injured in Gaza since the start of the war. An estimated 300,000 people are currently isolated in northern Gaza. World Food Programme says hunger has reached catastrophic levels. One in six children under two years of age was acutely malnourished in Gaza in January.

Lack of nutritious food, safe water and medical services is also hindering the ability of mothers to breastfeed their babies. Without breast milk or formula, babies can quickly become severely dehydrated, which increases the risk of life-threatening conditions. Salah Samara, a four-month-old boy, is one of the seriously ill children who Dr Abdel Jalil and her colleagues are trying to treat. He was born prematurely and became severely dehydrated, and that he was now suffering from chronic kidney disease and urinary retention.

Dr Ahmed al-Kahlot, Kamal Adwan’s director, warned that the child deaths so far reported by the health ministry understated the true scale of the problem. The number of cases of deaths due to malnutrition began to be counted two weeks ago, he said. The World Food Programme said its first attempt in two weeks to bring food aid to northern Gaza was blocked by Israeli soldiers. The UN agency said the convoy of 14 lorries was later looted by crowds of “desperate people.

Western governments are also increasing pressure for Israel to do more to facilitate the distribution of aid.

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