According to Al Jazeera, there are 335,000 children under the age of 5 at serious risk of starving. Doctors have experienced a sharp rise in cases of hunger and malnutrition since the Rafah pass closed. The Zionist army has massacred the Gaza Strip in the last eight months, has forced to displace at least 85 per cent of the population and has closed or almost banned all access to humanitarian aid. Famine has led to a major famine throughout Gaza, and several experts are planning to increase considerably the number of starvation deaths in the coming months.

A pediatrician in Gaza warns Al Jazeera that the diseases, infections and growth problems of children are increasing alarmingly as a result of hunger. Last week two children starve to death at Deir Al Balah Hospital in central Gaza, according to the Al Mezan Association, which works for human rights in Gaza. 30 May and 1 June respectively. Fayez Ataya was six months old and Abdulqader Al-Serhi 13 years old, both died from malnutrition and have not had the opportunity to receive the necessary health care. These have been the first starved people in central Gaza, but the whole territory is in a similar situation. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 30 Palestinians have died from lack of food since 7 October, the majority of children. Most cases have so far been reported in northern Gaza, but extreme hunger is rapidly spreading to central and southern Gaza, since the Zionists closed the southern road for humanitarian aid.

The UN says that 1.2 million Palestinians are suffering from emergency hunger and that the only way to save them is the immediate truce. As early as early as May, he warned of the existence of “widespread hunger” in northern Gaza, and the situation in the south today is also extreme. Rafah is “a child disaster”, according to UNICEF delegate Jonathan Crickx. The Guardian records the statements of the UNICEF Chief of Communication in Palestine. More than 3,000 children with severe malnutrition should stop treatment if complementary foods are not included. They need a food prepared for therapeutic use, which is used to treat child malnutrition, but it is not possible thanks to the Israeli blockade and thousands of children are “in grave danger of death”.

Without seeing the most serious consequences

For many months in northern Gaza, hunger has been more severe than in the south. Most of the aid, though scarce, has entered the south either through the Rafah crossing, between Egypt and Gaza, or through the Kear Shalom crossing on the border with Israel. Both have been held closed by the Zionists in the last month. There are sources that say that the situation in Iparralde, although still very serious, has improved somewhat, as some aid has been incorporated, but in the south they are suffering serious supply problems, according to the Palestinian representative of the World Food Programme.

Israel is causing a deadly famine, but the most serious consequences are yet to be seen. Eleven global organizations warn about increased risk. Non-governmental organizations Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam and Save the Children made a joint statement at the end of May stating that they anticipate a dramatic increase in deaths from hunger, disease and lack of medical care. They denounce that “cosmetic changes” have been the new gateway to humanitarian aid and the temporary port built by the United States in the water. Alexandra Saieh Save the Children, Head of Humanitarian Policy, told Al Jazeera that the hunger she has seen so far is only “the tip of the iceberg.”

Lack of food is not the only risk. The fact that Israel has eliminated the possibility of obtaining clean water and destroyed the sanitation system also means that children are more at risk of infection and illness. The health system in Gaza is almost nothing, due to the multiple operations of the Zionists against health services. Most hospitals and clinics are closed, the few that are open have very limited activity and some experts warn that there is no way to combat malnutrition and health problems.