Hunger is turning into a growing disaster in Gaza. Officials from the Hamas-affiliated Ministry of Health announced that 20 people have died of starvation in the last 48 hours alone, calling these deaths “unprecedented.”
According to unnamed local sources, a six-week-old baby and three children have died of starvation in the last 24 hours. Health officials say that hunger and malnutrition have killed civilians faster than at any other time during the 21-month war.
The ministry director, Munir Al-Barash, told the Al Jazeera outlet that “the figure of 20 deaths in two days is unprecedented.”
“A total of 88 people have died from hunger in Gaza [since the start of the war] so far, including 78 children,” he added.
“Infants under one year of age suffer from a lack of milk, which leads to a significant decrease in their weight and a decrease in their immunity that makes them vulnerable to diseases,” said Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital.
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said that many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties: reporting atrocities or alleviating some of the suffering. “Caretakers in Gaza are also in need of care. Doctors, nurses, journalists and humanitarians are hungry. More than 1,000 starving people have been reported killed since the end of May,” he stated.
Source: ANF News
