Gaza city: One in four young children and pregnant women attending Doctors Without Borders/M©decins Sans Fronti¨res (MSF) clinics in Gaza are malnourished, a stark indication of the severe food shortages affecting the region. The organization has condemned the Israeli authorities' use of starvation as a weapon, emphasizing the dire situation facing both patients and healthcare workers.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, MSF has observed a significant increase in malnutrition cases at its facilities, with 25 percent of children aged six months to five years and pregnant or breastfeeding women showing signs of malnutrition. The MSF clinic in Gaza City has seen the number of malnutrition enrollments quadruple since May 18, with severe malnutrition rates in children under five tripling in just two weeks.
MSF's deputy medical coordinator in Gaza, Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, criticized the food distributions by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, labeling them as war crimes. He highlighted that those seeking aid face the risk of violence, with recipients having equal chances of receiving food or being harmed.
Caroline Willemen, project coordinator at the MSF clinic in Gaza City, reported that the clinic is now enrolling 25 new malnutrition patients daily. She noted the exhaustion and hunger among MSF staff and the ongoing attacks by Israeli forces and private security contractors on those seeking aid at distribution sites run by the Israeli proxy, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Amande Bazerolle, MSF's head of emergency response in Gaza, described the situation as a deliberate blockade of essential resources, with Israeli forces committing daily atrocities against people seeking aid. The Ministry of Health reported over 1,000 deaths and over 7,200 injuries in the past two months, many occurring at distribution sites backed by the US government.
The statement also highlighted the challenges faced by community kitchens in providing food to patients and medical staff, with some shutting down due to shortages. Even when operational, they can only offer limited meals, insufficient for the nutritional needs of patients and staff.
