Starvation-Related Deaths in Gaza as Israel Lets Minimal Aid in

Those who died from hunger and malnutrition were children and elderly people, Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan told reporters.

Earlier this week, U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said that 14,000 babies could die within 48 hours if aid did not reach them.

Commenting on his remarks, the minister said, “The number 14,000 is very realistic, may be even underestimating [the scale].”

Israeli officials said on May 23 they let in more than 100 trucks of aid, including flour, food, medical equipment and drugs.

But U.N. agencies said the amount is woefully insufficient, compared with around 600 trucks a day that entered during a recent ceasefire and that are necessary to meet basic needs.

The aid workers also noted that Israeli military restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza make it difficult to retrieve and distribute the aid. As a result, little of it has so far reached those in need.

“This is a critical first step, but assistance must be scaled up. More essential food is needed to push back the risk of famine. Bread alone is not enough for people to survive,” The U.N.’s World Food Program said.

The German government also noted on May 23 that the aid trucks that Israel has allowed into the Gaza Strip this week are "too little, too late.”

"This is far too little, too late and too slow," the German government spokesperson said.

"Now it's a matter of increasing it significantly ... and ensuring that these aid supplies reach the people so that the suffering in the Gaza Strip comes to an end," he added.

A severe child malnutrition crisis is unfolding in Gaza, with the main hospital in Khan Younis overwhelmed by cases like that of 2-year-old Mayar, who suffers from celiac disease and can’t access the special nutrition she needs to survive.

Hospitals are struggling to cope, lacking even basic supplies like baby formula and diapers. Aid agencies warned that the situation is rapidly deteriorating and that thousands more children could face life-threatening hunger in the coming weeks.

The strikes that lasted into May 23 morning came a day after Israeli tanks and drones attacked a hospital in northern Gaza, igniting fires and causing extensive damage.

Videos taken by a health official at Al-Awda Hospital show walls blown away and thick black smoke billowing wreckage.

The strike came after Israeli media reported that the army was preparing to launch an “intensified phase” of Operation “Gideon’s Chariots” in the Gaza Strip by deploying thousands of additional soldiers.

The reports, citing unnamed political sources, said the new phase aims to seize and maintain control of more territory in northern and central Gaza, in parallel with the forced displacement of large numbers of Palestinians toward the south.

“The goal is to reach new areas inside Gaza as part of a ground maneuver largely reliant on aerial assaults,” the sources said.

The escalation follows a wide-ranging ground assault launched Sunday, marking the operational implementation of “Gideon’s Chariots,” which includes the full evacuation of Palestinians from combat zones.

Source: HDN