Gaza Children Suffer Amid Israel-Iran Conflict

In the wards of Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, two-year-old Mayar Al-Arja stares into the distance. Her mother watches on, fearful the war is slowly killing her daughter, with no salvation in sight. 'She doesn't walk, play, smile, or speak; she does nothing at all,' Asmaa Faif Al-Arja told the ABC. 'This is the third time I've had to bring her to the hospital — each time, I leave hoping she'll get better, only to return again. She continues to lose weight and is unable to gain any back.'

Mayar is only about half the weight a girl her age should be, tipping the scales at just over 6 kilograms. 'She has a severe protein deficiency, her hair is falling out, her skin is peeling, and she suffers from constant diarrhoea,' Asmaa said. 'There's no access to the protein-rich food she so desperately needs. She doesn't need complex treatment; she just needs to eat — all she requires is access to special nutritious food, that's all.'

But such items are in desperately short supply in Gaza, with Israeli restrictions on the number of aid deliveries entering Gaza. About 70 trucks a day have crossed into the war-ravaged strip since Monday. Doctors have warned months of prolonged shortages mean those deliveries are yet to make much of an impact, and the situation has been left to develop into a full-blown crisis.

'The cases of malnutrition, children who have died due to malnutrition, they are increasing day by day,' Ahmad Al-Farra from Nasser Hospital's paediatrics and maternity department told the ABC. 'The last statistic is talking about 62 cases expired or died due to malnutrition, and the number of malnourishing cases increasing month by month nearly 150 per cent.'

With milk and formula deliveries not coming, hospital staff and volunteers were trying to buy supplies in local markets. 'The local market now is a black market,' Dr. Al-Farra said. 'The price of milk is nearly 10, multiplied by 10 times.'

On Thursday, Israeli officials accused Hamas of hijacking aid convoys entering Gaza and stealing supplies. Hamas denied the allegations, calling them 'fabricated'. Israeli officials insisted aid deliveries into Gaza had not been suspended, and that the Netanyahu government was backing the private Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to distribute aid.

Palestinian health authorities said more than 800 people were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza while the country was fighting its war with Iran, and dozens were shot as they tried to enter aid distribution sites across the strip. Humanitarian agencies have been highly critical of the GHF model, accusing Israel and the United States of undermining established and effective methods of getting food to desperate people and weaponising aid at a time of war.

According to the source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.