Six-year-old Hikmat Badr died Monday, because of malnutrition and Israeli-induced starvation. He is just one of many children in Gaza to have died over the nine months of the Israeli genocide.
His frail body eventually gave up and he died in Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al Balah in central Gaza with news of his death all over the social media.
Hikmat was brought down here with his uncle and mother from the north of Gaza seeking food whilst his father stayed up north.
“We came here “in the hope of getting the necessary medical care and essential nourishment for Hikmat,” his uncle Ahmad Badr told Anadolu.
Badr said the Israeli army told him there would be food down here, but when they came there was surprised to find there is nothing.
Last month, Dr. Husam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, announced the tragic deaths of four children due to severe malnutrition as reported by the Turkish news agency.
Abu Safiya revealed that the hospital had witnessed over 250 cases of malnutrition among children within just two weeks.
“Gaza faces a genuine health catastrophe, one that begins with children but could ultimately affect adults as well,” he warned.
One wrote “the death of the child Hikmat Badr due to malnutrition and dehydration, as a result of the siege and aggression of the Israeli occupation supported by the United States, Britain, Germany and France on the Gaza Strip. Do not forget, do not forgive.”
Yet another emphasized in Spanish “the Palestinian boy, Hikmat Badr, aged 6, died of hunger …due to the policy of extermination by starvation carried out by the Zionist army. In the last 48 hours, 2 Palestinian children have died from malnutrition… but you won’t see it on TV.”
Dr Asmar is an Amman-based writer covering Middle East affairs
