Famine Sets In Northern Gaza

Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan hospital told Al Jazeera that Israel is blocking the entry of food, water, medical staff and materials destined for the north. He said that a large number of children and elderly people continue to arrive to the hospital suffering from malnutrition. Unfortunately, cases of malnutrition are starting to increase. Since yesterday, 17 children have arrived at the emergency room showing signs of malnutrition. Additionally, an elderly man passed away yesterday due to severe dehydration. The situation is becoming even more catastrophic.

The hospital has been under direct Israeli fire, damaging its facilities and endangering the patients remaining inside. There are 85 injured people in the hospital, most of them women and children. They are at risk of death due to the lack of medicine. The injured come to the hospital on foot despite their serious condition and are exposed to shelling on the way. Dr. Hussam Abu Safia said the hospital can not respond to distress calls from people under siege in Beit Lahiya.

He also said:

• We have been under strict Israeli siege. Nothing is allowed in, neither medicine, medical teams, food, nor ambulances and civil defense services.
• Despite our repeated calls to the world, the same situation continues to repeat itself.
• Yesterday, I received a call from the Al-Kahlout family after their house was targeted, and unfortunately, we cannot do anything. Some survived, but those who remained have unfortunately become martyrs.
• We currently have 85 injured, including children and women, receiving the minimum level of healthcare.
• In the ICU, there are 6 critical cases.
• Sadly, there is no action, nor even promises from any international organisations to open a humanitarian corridor to allow medical supplies, surgical medical teams, children’s food, and infant formula to enter so that we can treat malnutrition cases and provide ambulances.

The WHO has also raised alarm over the dire conditions in hospitals across northern Gaza, with Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya facing what its director called an “extreme catastrophe.”

WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told journalists in Geneva “We are very, very concerned, and it’s getting harder and harder to get the aid in. It’s getting harder and harder to get the specialist personnel in at a time when there is greater and greater need.”

Harris highlighted that Kamal Adwan Hospital was attacked again on Tuesday by Israeli troops, compounding its already critical situation

At least 12 innocent civilians have been killed, including children, in an Israeli airstrike targeting a house in Jabalia, northern Gaza, according to local sources.