The offensive in the enclave has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians
Gaza:
A boy holds a cardboard box with aid in his arms as he sways between tents at a displacement camp in Gaza on Monday ahead of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, where Israeli air and ground operations have destroyed six Palestinian enclaves. moon.
Aid agencies say an Israeli military assault in retaliation for a deadly Hamas attack on October 7 has pushed Gaza to the brink of famine, even as more aid has begun to flow.
Palestinians in Gaza say the additional supplies are still far from enough to ease dire conditions as nearly all residents of the small and crowded territory have been displaced.
Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Islamic lunar month of Ramadan, is expected to take place in Gaza on Wednesday, depending on whether the moon is clearly visible, but Palestinians have little to cheer about this year.
The boy struggling under the cardboard box had been received from a United Nations distribution center in the central town of Deir al-Balah, where there were long lines of people demanding identification in exchange for boxes containing canned goods.
“There’s not enough food. I haven’t received a box in two months. The box we received yesterday wasn’t enough for me or my kids and the 18 other people we were with. If everyone received a box a day it wouldn’t be enough, ” said Fayez Abdelhadi in the camp.
He said aid deliveries also lacked basic hygiene products such as soap and detergent, even as the massive destruction sparked a public health crisis with little clean water and rampant disease.
One woman in the camp, Umm Mohammed Hamad, who was displaced from her home in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, said she had been living in a U.N. shelter there for nearly two years moon.
“We didn’t receive any boxes, no help. They didn’t start giving out boxes until today,” she said.
Hospital
Since last month, some hospitals have reported children dying from malnutrition and starvation and warned that other preventable deaths could occur due to a lack of medical supplies.
At Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, media chief Wissam Sekni said a shipment arriving on Sunday was not enough to meet patient needs, especially antibiotics used to treat injuries common in war zones.
But he said the lack of diverse, nutritious food is the biggest problem.
“Most of the children (in the hospital) are malnourished, especially premature babies due to malnutrition of the mother,” Sekni said.
In the neonatal ward, four-month-old baby Assem al-Najjar, who has not gained weight since birth, needs surgery to perforate his heart, which is now impossible in Gaza, his mother said. Perform this surgery.
Israel’s operation in Gaza began when Hamas stormed across the border, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 253 hostage, according to Israeli statistics.
The offensive in the enclave has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Last week, airstrikes targeting an aid convoy killed seven aid workers, increasing international pressure on Israel to provide more aid to Gaza.
In response to pressure, Israel said it had approved the reopening of the Erez crossing into northern Gaza and was temporarily using the southern Israeli port of Ashdod to deliver supplies.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
