WARNING: DISTRESSING IMAGES A major alert has been issued over Gaza’s starving children with as many as 900,000 lives at risk as Israeli troops press on with their attacks
At least 21 Palestinian children have died of malnutrition and starvation in the past 72 hours – with another 70,000 now suffering malnutrition, medical officials have declared. Horrific imagery of starving children are emerging with, one year-old Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, shown as having starved to less than a stone in weight.
Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Shifa hospital in Gaza City, says a further 900,000 children are having to go without food and have been hit by hunger. The Hamas-run health ministry says another 15 people have died of starvation within the past 24 hours, highlighting growing alarm about the Gaza devastation.
The doctor warned they face alarming numbers of deaths, the doctor warns, with diabetic and kidney patients at particular risk. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was said to be “appalled” and declared that in Gaza the “last lifeline keeping people alive are collapsing.”
The starvation alert rang out as Israeli forces stormed the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah for the first time since the war broke out. They were accused of attacking the UN’s World Health Organisation housing three times, handcuffing staff and interrogating them.
Palestinians have been forced to flee to al-Mawasi on the Strip’s south west coast as the death toll of Gazans since war began soared to 59,029, according to local officials. At least 43 Palestinians have been killed across the Palestinian Strip since dawn on Tuesday, local officials said.
According to reports from within Gaza at least ten of the dead were killed as sought aid. The WHO, a UN agency, said:”Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict.
“Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint.” Israeli tank shelling killed at least 12 Palestinians and wounded dozens others in a tent encampment in western Gaza City north of the enclave, local health authorities said today.
Medics said the tanks stationed north of Shati camp fired two shells at tents, housing displaced families, killing at least 12 people. There has been no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident.
Talking in general about the fighting inside Gaza Israeli Defence Force Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said: “The war in the Gaza Strip is one of the most complex the IDF has ever known.
“We have achieved significant accomplishments. We will continue operating to achieve our objectives: the return of the hostages and the dismantling of Hamas.” Just 20 of the 50 hostages remaining in captivity inside Gaza are thought to be alive and talks are still underway to try and settle a ceasefire.
If a cessation in fighting is agreed it is likely to be for 60 days but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not want an end to the war. He insists that even if a ceasefire is declared Israel will not stop the war until Hamas is totally destroyed or those that remain are then exiled. Hamas are insisting on meaningful talks about ending the war being part of the ceasefire period.