Babies in Gaza are slowly perishing under the world’s gaze, says the UN refugee agency.
The heartbreaking comments from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) followed the deaths of 15 children over the past few days from malnutrition and dehydration in a Gaza hospital.
The UNRWA raised the alarm anew on the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip on its account on X, formerly Twitter, commenting on a statement by Unicef on the deaths of the children.
“Now, the child deaths we feared are here and are likely to rapidly increase unless the war ends and obstacles to humanitarian relief are immediately resolved,” Unicef regional director for the Middle East and North Africa Adele Khodr said.
Gaza’s health ministry earlier reported the deaths of at least 15 children at Kamal Adwan Hospital.
“We fear for the lives of six (other) children suffering from malnutrition and diarrhoea at the hospital’s intensive care unit as a result of the cessation of the electric generator and oxygen and the weakness of medical capabilities,” Ashraf Al Qidra, the Gaza health ministry spokesperson, said.
World Health Organisation chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, meanwhile, responded angrily to reports about the killing of many Palestinians in an Israeli air strike on Rafah, in south Gaza. “These are unspeakably disgraceful reports,” he wrote on X.
“Reports that tents sheltering displaced people in Rafah were bombed, killing 11 people and injuring 50, including children, are shameful beyond description,” he added.
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