Children die of malnutrition as Rafah operation heightens threat of famine in Gaza

[CharlieH]

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Fayiz Abu Ataya was born into war and knew nothing else. Over his short, seven-month life in a town plagued by hunger, he withered away to a mere shadow of a child, his skin painfully stretched over protruding bones.

 

Though his time was brief, Fayiz's death from malnutrition last week echoed around the world, serving as a stark warning about a rapidly worsening crisis in central and southern Gaza. This crisis has been triggered by the Israeli military operation in the southern town of Rafah.

 

At least 30 child victims of malnutrition have been recorded in Gaza, primarily in the north, where extreme shortages of food and medical care are most pervasive. A top U.S. aid official has stated that famine has taken hold in some areas. The Israeli troop presence in Rafah since May has shifted the dire circumstances southward.

 

“The ongoing situation in Rafah is a disaster for children,” said Jonathan Crickx, chief of communication for UNICEF in Palestine. “If nutrition supplies, especially ready-to-use therapeutic food, cannot be distributed, the treatment of more than 3,000 children with acute malnutrition will be interrupted.”

 

For months, northern Gaza had faced severe hunger due to an Israeli military cordon. Aid mainly trickled into the strip through the Rafah crossing with Egypt and the Kerem Shalom gateway from Israel. Now, with the Egyptian border under Israeli control, the Rafah crossing closed, and fighting blocking humanitarian shipments through Kerem Shalom, the supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza has plummeted by two-thirds since May 7, according to UN figures.

 

Most of the food that manages to enter Gaza is shipped to the north, easing the crisis there but leaving the south desperately short of supplies, according to Matthew Hollingworth, the World Food Programme chief for Palestine. “In the north, the situation has improved significantly from five weeks ago,” he said. “In the middle and in particular the south, the situation has started to deteriorate again since May 7."

 

Without urgent assistance, people in these regions are predicted to completely run out of reserves within a week. A floating pier built by the U.S. to facilitate aid shipments has been damaged by bad weather and will be inoperative for several more days.

 

An Israeli missile strike that ignited a fire among crowded refugee tents last weekend, killing at least 45 people, exemplified the immediate danger to civilians. However, the gradual collapse of food and medical access poses a widespread and deadly threat. Twenty international aid agencies warned that the limited and unpredictable flow of aid has created a false impression of improved access, while the humanitarian response is actually nearing collapse.

 

These organizations, including Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam, and Save the Children, fear an acceleration in deaths from starvation, disease, and lack of medical care. Another child death from malnutrition was recorded in Deir al Balah on Saturday—a 13-year-old—highlighting a much larger emergency.

 

“In similar crises, children often die from malnutrition not in hospitals, but at home or in the streets,” Crickx noted. “Reported deaths from malnutrition only show part of the toll. Many malnourished children in Gaza likely remain uncounted.”

 

A snapshot survey revealed that 85% of children under five in Gaza spent at least one day without food over a three-day period in May, according to WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris. Besides hunger, the lack of clean water and sanitation elevates the risk of infectious diseases, particularly among young children. The closure of most hospitals and clinics further exacerbates the crisis, making it difficult for parents to secure even basic medical care for their children.

 

Save the Children stated that there is no longer a viable route for medical evacuations for children requiring urgent treatment outside Gaza. After international pressure, including a ruling from the International Court of Justice, Israel has opened new aid crossings. However, the country has blamed hunger on logistical failures by humanitarian groups and provided truck figures that differ from UN data.

 

“Israel is committed to its international obligations, stating there is no limit on the humanitarian aid we are willing to accept,” said Shimon Freedman, spokesman for Cogat, the Israeli body responsible for humanitarian coordination. He cited an increase in daily trucks entering Gaza, but humanitarian groups argue that truck numbers are misleading and emphasize the need to focus on the actual supplies reaching people in need.

 

Humanitarian efforts are described as "a giant game of snakes and ladders," with logistical and security challenges making the delivery of sufficient aid nearly impossible. Obstacles include security checks, military permissions, fuel shortages, and dangerous roads.

 

In March, aid groups warned of imminent famine in northern Gaza and potential famine in southern regions, now evidenced by the Rafah invasion. The WFP's Hollingworth called for urgent action to prevent worsening disaster. “By the time famine is declared, it’s already too late. We must act now to prevent further tragedy,” he urged.

 

As reported in The Guardian.

 

2024-06-02

 

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[Jeff the Chef]

what the hell are we as Human Beings supposed to do when we see all this day in day out?

Both sides claiming their sides propaganda is gospel truth when clearly all there is is arguments from both sides.

Politics and Religion, Humanities forever crisis.

[Hawaiian]

4 hours ago, Jeff the Chef said:

what the hell are we as Human Beings supposed to do when we see all this day in day out?

Both sides claiming their sides propaganda is gospel truth when clearly all there is is arguments from both sides.

Politics and Religion, Humanities forever crisis.

Children dying from starvation is not happening only in Gaza.  They are the innocent victims of conflicts all over the world.  Unfortunately, there are too many Inhumane Beings in the world.

[thaibeachlovers]

There are hundreds of trucks loaded with food held outside Gaza by the israelis. Famine is entirely due to israeli actions in preventing the food entering Gaza.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68550937

[Bkk Brian]

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

There are hundreds of trucks loaded with food held outside Gaza by the israelis. Famine is entirely due to israeli actions in preventing the food entering Gaza.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68550937

That link is from 13th March!

 

Egypt closed the Rafah border 2 or 3 weeks ago, the US, Israel and Egypt are in negotiations with them to get it open again! Get your facts straight

 

 

Egypt will host Israeli and American officials on Sunday to discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing, a vital conduit for aid into the Gaza Strip, Egyptian state-linked media said.

Al-Qahera News, which has links to Egyptian intelligence, quoted on Saturday an unidentified senior official as saying Cairo was demanding “a total Israeli withdrawal” from the terminal on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.

 

 

[Hanaguma]

The IDF has discovered more than 20 secret tunnels in the Rafah area going from Egypt to Gaza. Some are big enough that trucks can drive through.  Why hasn't there been any aid delivered by Hamas (the defacto government of Gaza) to its people through these tunnels? Or are they exclusively used for 'other' purposes only...

[Hawaiian]

2 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

The IDF has discovered more than 20 secret tunnels in the Rafah area going from Egypt to Gaza. Some are big enough that trucks can drive through.  Why hasn't there been any aid delivered by Hamas (the defacto government of Gaza) to its people through these tunnels? Or are they exclusively used for 'other' purposes only...

If any food is coming through these tunnels I rather doubt any of it is reaching the civilian population.  Anyone that uses civilians as human shields certainly has no qualms about depriving them of food.

[Hanaguma]

1 hour ago, Hawaiian said:

If any food is coming through these tunnels I rather doubt any of it is reaching the civilian population.  Anyone that uses civilians as human shields certainly has no qualms about depriving them of food.

Yeah, that was kind of my point.  Much like the aid from the failed Biden Bridge, which has now washed away in the stormy seas of the Med. 

[Jeff the Chef]

Hope this makes everyone proud you're a human being.

 

A food survey by aid agencies in May found that 85 per cent of children did not eat for a whole day at least once in the three days before the survey was conducted, with dietary diversity worsening.

Living conditions are so appalling that in Al-Mawasi, there are just 121 latrines for over 500,000 people – or 4,130 people having to share each toilet.

Just 19 per cent of the 400,000 litres of fuel a day needed to run the humanitarian operation in Gaza – including transportation, the provision of clean water and sewage removal – is being allowed in and is not delivered every day.

According to the UN, aid deliveries have dropped by two-thirds since Israel’s invasion of Rafah. Since 6 May, just 216 trucks of humanitarian aid entered via Kerem Shalom and were able to be collected – an average of eight a day

It’s estimated that hundreds of commercial food trucks are entering daily via the Kerem Shalom crossing. Although important for increasing food availability in Gaza, the consignments include items like non-nutritious energy drinks, chocolate and cookies, and food is often sold at inflated prices that people cannot afford. Lack of dietary diversity is one of the key drivers of acute malnutrition and has been assessed as ‘extremely critical’ in Gaza

People are paying nearly $700 for the most basic tents and there is so little space left, that some have been forced to set up tents in the cemetery at Deir al-Balah

 

https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/famine-risk-increases-israel-makes-gaza-aid-response-virtually-impossible

[Neeranam]

5 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

The IDF has discovered more than 20 secret tunnels in the Rafah area going from Egypt to Gaza. Some are big enough that trucks can drive through.  Why hasn't there been any aid delivered by Hamas (the defacto government of Gaza) to its people through these tunnels? Or are they exclusively used for 'other' purposes only...

I suggest you research why and how many tunnels were built in the 1980s, before Hamas existed. 

I think it shameful that you try to avoid the fact of children dying of starvation due to Israel blocking food coming in, and spinning it makes it sound like it's Hamas' fault. 

 

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-army-leak-destruction-gaza-tunnels-rafah

 

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, Hawaiian said:

If any food is coming through these tunnels I rather doubt any of it is reaching the civilian population.  Anyone that uses civilians as human shields certainly has no qualms about depriving them of food.

This post takes the biscuit. 

Suggesting that Palestinians are starving themselves really is beyond irrational. 

[Neeranam]

7 minutes ago, Jeff the Chef said:

Hope this makes everyone proud you're a human being.

 

A food survey by aid agencies in May found that 85 per cent of children did not eat for a whole day at least once in the three days before the survey was conducted, with dietary diversity worsening.

Living conditions are so appalling that in Al-Mawasi, there are just 121 latrines for over 500,000 people – or 4,130 people having to share each toilet.

Just 19 per cent of the 400,000 litres of fuel a day needed to run the humanitarian operation in Gaza – including transportation, the provision of clean water and sewage removal – is being allowed in and is not delivered every day.

According to the UN, aid deliveries have dropped by two-thirds since Israel’s invasion of Rafah. Since 6 May, just 216 trucks of humanitarian aid entered via Kerem Shalom and were able to be collected – an average of eight a day

It’s estimated that hundreds of commercial food trucks are entering daily via the Kerem Shalom crossing. Although important for increasing food availability in Gaza, the consignments include items like non-nutritious energy drinks, chocolate and cookies, and food is often sold at inflated prices that people cannot afford. Lack of dietary diversity is one of the key drivers of acute malnutrition and has been assessed as ‘extremely critical’ in Gaza

People are paying nearly $700 for the most basic tents and there is so little space left, that some have been forced to set up tents in the cemetery at Deir al-Balah

 

https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/famine-risk-increases-israel-makes-gaza-aid-response-virtually-impossible

It makes me very sad, Jeff, and even sadder that some are blaming the Palestinians for their own deaths. 

 

Where would they get $700?

 

I wonder how many are holding down a job when being displaced from one place to another. 

[Neeranam]

Children have been dying from starvation-related complications since Israel began using starvation as a weapon of war, a war crime, Human Rights Watch said in its recent report.

 

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/09/gaza-israels-imposed-starvation-deadly-children

 

https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/in-pictures-starvation-imposed-by-israel-takes-life-of-another-gaza-infant-18168127

Edited June 4 by Neeranam

[Bkk Brian]

7 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I suggest you research why and how many tunnels were built in the 1980s, before Hamas existed. 

I think it shameful that you try to avoid the fact of children dying of starvation due to Israel blocking food coming in, and spinning it makes it sound like it's Hamas' fault. 

 

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-army-leak-destruction-gaza-tunnels-rafah

 

What does it matter if there were some there before Hamas? The point being they have been used by Hamas for smuggling and need to be destroyed. Get a grip man

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, Hanaguma said:

Yeah, that was kind of my point.  Much like the aid from the failed Biden Bridge, which has now washed away in the stormy seas of the Med. 

Are you saying the Palestinians are starving their own children to death? 

Come on man... 

[Bkk Brian]

Just now, Neeranam said:

Are you saying the Palestinians are starving their own children to death? 

Come on man... 

https://x.com/cogatonline/status/1796521288162333079

 

[Jeff the Chef]

Exclusive: Israel reopens Gaza food sales as Rafah raid chokes aid

 

VETTED BY ISRAELI MILITARY
Israel launched its assault on Rafah on May 7, defying warnings from its closest ally the United States that the offensive would cause more civilian casualties and from aid agencies who said it could upend efforts to deliver food to Gazans.
A week later, said Abu Ramadan of the Chamber of Commerce, the Israeli military began contacting traders in Gaza saying they could resume taking deliveries of food from Israel and the West Bank.
Under the arrangement, all suppliers and goods have to be vetted by the Israeli military, according to Wassim Al-Jaabari, head of the West Bank food and industry union.
The Gaza distributors meet the trucks sent by suppliers at the Kerem Shalom crossing on Gaza's southern border where the military examines the goods before allowing the distributors to take them into the enclave, the two Palestinian officials said.
A copy of a COGAT list seen by Reuters showed that on May 22, 127 trucks carrying watermelons, lemons, eggs and milk as well as spices, rice, pasta, sugar and other items had been ordered by Gazan distributors. The list showed that most of the supplies came from the West Bank, though Reuters couldn't determine if that was representative of deliveries more broadly.
Jaabari and Abu Ramadan said no free goods or charitable donations were allowed in from the West Bank or Israel, only products for sale.
None of the five interviewed businessmen involved in the trade would disclose exactly what they charge for a full shipment, but said their prices were what it normally cost to sell in the West Bank. Transport prices, however, push the cost up as trucks often have to spend a long time on the road near Kerem Shalom waiting for inspection and are sometimes ransacked by Israelis protesting the entry of goods to Gaza, they said.
Two distributors inside Gaza declined to say how much they bought and sold goods for. They pay the West Bank suppliers by bank transfer and take cash from sellers in local markets.

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-reopens-gaza-food-sales-rafah-raid-chokes-aid-2024-05-30/

[Rimmer]

Why Aren’t U.S. Navy LCAC Hovercraft Being Used To Deliver Aid To Gaza?

 

It will take some time before the Biden administration's highly touted pier in Gaza is usable again after breaking apart in heavy seas. Humanitarian aid deliveries via the sea have subsequently ground to a halt and criticisms are growing about how the technically 'no-boots-on-the-ground' mission has proceeded to date. Yet the U.S. has a robust capability to conduct outsized deliveries from ship to shore without any of this infrastructure. So, if this is such a high-priority humanitarian mission, where are the U.S. Navy's Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) hovercraft?

 

https://www.twz.com/sea/why-are-navy-hovercraft-not-bringing-aid-to-gazas-shores

 

[Jeff the Chef]

19 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

https://x.com/cogatonline/status/1796521288162333079

 

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

https://govextra.gov.il/cogat/humanitarian-efforts/home/

[Neeranam]

Water toohttps://x.com/UNRWA/status/1797903247447118022

 

 

 

Edited June 4 by Neeranam

[Hawaiian]

Mistaken reply.

Edited June 4 by Hawaiian

[Bkk Brian]

3 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Water toohttps://x.com/UNRWA/status/1797903247447118022

 

 

 

Pass this onto UNRWA

 

[Social Media]

A post contravening the forums community standards has been removed for making unsubstaniated claims and extremely inapproprate comparisons.

[placeholder]

19 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

https://x.com/cogatonline/status/1796521288162333079

 

More B.S. from Kogat. There's a live war going on in that area right now. Not only would that be a risk enough in itself, but in the past, Israel hasn't been too scrupulous about refraining from attacking these convoys.  To put it mildly. In fact, COGAT had made a similar claim a few months ago and it turns out that the IDF was intentionally killing police sent to accompany the shipments.

[Bkk Brian]

6 minutes ago, placeholder said:

More B.S. from Kogat. There's a live war going on in that area right now. Not only would that be a risk enough in itself, but in the past, Israel hasn't been too scrupulous about refraining from attacking these convoys.  To put it mildly. In fact, COGAT had made a similar claim a few months ago and it turns out that the IDF was intentionally killing police sent to accompany the shipments.

Update 263 through today but gone up to 1000 trucks waiting:

 

 

Oh and Aid trucks entering Gaza ‘at fairly good clip,’ says World Central Kitchen

 

 

Edited June 5 by Bkk Brian

[placeholder]

4 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Update, gone up to 1000 trucks waiting:

 

 

Oh and Aid trucks entering Gaza ‘at fairly good clip,’ says World Central Kitchen

 

 

I'm not sure what you think that update proves.

And WCK is just one player out of many. And here's another quote from the guh in charge of the World Central Kitchen's program:

Addressing the severe food insecurity in Gaza, Torpey confirmed reports of Gazans consuming animal feed and drinking sewage water. The regional director of the World Health Organization also highlighted the dire conditions, urging for the opening of borders to facilitate aid distribution.

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-world-central-kitchen-reports-steady-flow-of-aid-trucks-into-gaza

 

[Bkk Brian]

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

I'm not sure what you think that update proves.

And WCK is just one player out of many. And here's another quote from the guh in charge of the World Central Kitchen's program:

Addressing the severe food insecurity in Gaza, Torpey confirmed reports of Gazans consuming animal feed and drinking sewage water. The regional director of the World Health Organization also highlighted the dire conditions, urging for the opening of borders to facilitate aid distribution.

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-world-central-kitchen-reports-steady-flow-of-aid-trucks-into-gaza

 

None of your business what I'm thinking. You were replying to an older data set so I updated it, whether it proves anything or not to you does not worry me since I already know your opinion on Cogat "B.S.". There has even been a study on the information and data supplied by Cogat. Have you looked at the actual data on the website?

 

The World Central Kitchen (WCK) organization said on Tuesday that it is bringing trucks of food aid into Gaza “at a fairly good clip” and is able to distribute them to its community kitchens in different areas of the territory through close coordination with the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) agency of the Defense Ministry.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

On 6/4/2024 at 8:44 PM, Rimmer said:

Why Aren’t U.S. Navy LCAC Hovercraft Being Used To Deliver Aid To Gaza?

 

It will take some time before the Biden administration's highly touted pier in Gaza is usable again after breaking apart in heavy seas. Humanitarian aid deliveries via the sea have subsequently ground to a halt and criticisms are growing about how the technically 'no-boots-on-the-ground' mission has proceeded to date. Yet the U.S. has a robust capability to conduct outsized deliveries from ship to shore without any of this infrastructure. So, if this is such a high-priority humanitarian mission, where are the U.S. Navy's Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) hovercraft?

 

https://www.twz.com/sea/why-are-navy-hovercraft-not-bringing-aid-to-gazas-shores

 

Perhaps the pier was only a means to pretend to the world that the US was actually doing something to aid Gazans. As pointed out by multiple sources the number of trucks using the pier was far below the number required to make a difference.

 

IMO it wasn't meant to work.

 

If the US was serious it would send aid trucks on large landing ships that don't need a pier ( which took a long time to install ). They worked well during WW2 and I expect the USN will still have some available.

[Jeff the Chef]

On 6/4/2024 at 3:44 PM, Rimmer said:

Why Aren’t U.S. Navy LCAC Hovercraft Being Used To Deliver Aid To Gaza?

 

It will take some time before the Biden administration's highly touted pier in Gaza is usable again after breaking apart in heavy seas. Humanitarian aid deliveries via the sea have subsequently ground to a halt and criticisms are growing about how the technically 'no-boots-on-the-ground' mission has proceeded to date. Yet the U.S. has a robust capability to conduct outsized deliveries from ship to shore without any of this infrastructure. So, if this is such a high-priority humanitarian mission, where are the U.S. Navy's Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) hovercraft?

 

https://www.twz.com/sea/why-are-navy-hovercraft-not-bringing-aid-to-gazas-shores

 

 

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Perhaps the pier was only a means to pretend to the world that the US was actually doing something to aid Gazans. As pointed out by multiple sources the number of trucks using the pier was far below the number required to make a difference.

 

IMO it wasn't meant to work.

 

If the US was serious it would send aid trucks on large landing ships that don't need a pier ( which took a long time to install ). They worked well during WW2 and I expect the USN will still have some available.

 

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of Americans trapped in war-torn Sudan last year needed a way out of the country, but the U.S. Marine Corps, the go-to service for such rescues, couldn’t help.

Typically, this kind of mission would be standard for the Navy and Marine Corps’ amphibious ready group and Marine expeditionary unit, made up of 2,300 Marines aboard three ships who are trained to fight their way into and evacuate citizens from dangerous locations.

Instead, as violence surged, the Pentagon relied on drones to monitor a 500-mile escape route from the capital of Khartoum to the Red Sea city of Port Sudan. For the Americans who fled to the coast, the Pentagon sent an auxiliary transport ship to shuttle them to safety in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

It was a complicated and risky self-evacuation.

At the same time, off the coast of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the Bataan ARG and 26th MEU were conducting a noncombatant evacuation simulation — training for the very operation Americans in Sudan needed. But the group stayed put because it wasn’t yet certified for global missions.

The Navy didn’t have another set of ready amphibious ships to deploy from the East Coast on short notice.

All of this followed a similar situation a few months earlier, when service leaders were unable to send a team to Turkey and Syria to provide aid after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked the region.

Maj. Gen. Roger Turner, the Marine Corps’ operations division director, told Defense News the naval forces “have this razor-thin capacity” with amphibious ships, and when emergencies arise, “there’s no capacity to react.”

 

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2023/05/02/marines-want-31-amphibious-ships-the-pentagon-disagrees-now-what/