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Rabat – Mustafa Hijazi, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, succumbed to severe malnutrition and dehydration on Friday at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
His death brings the total number of malnutrition-related child fatalities in the besieged enclave to 40, according to medical sources cited by the Palestinian news agency, WAFA.
The situation in Gaza has reached a critical point, with severe shortages of medical supplies exacerbating the already dire conditions. Doctor Hossam Abu Safiyya, head of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, described the devastation left by the Israeli occupation forces.
“The current condition is really dire. It is dangerous, beyond any imagination,” Abu Safiyya said in an interview with Al Jazeera. “We ran out of all medical supplies, and after the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the vicinity of Kamal Adwan Hospital, all that was left was massive destruction and total devastation.”
Despite the challenges, the hospital has managed to resume some operations, particularly in the pediatric units. However, the shortage of medical supplies and fuel has severely hampered their ability to provide adequate care.
Read also: Gaza’s Hunger Crisis: Children Starve as World Watches
“Many children die as a result of poor nutrition,” Abu Safiyya noted. “We’ve documented many cases where children were suffering acute malnutrition. They were put in the maximum care unit, and we’ve administered a number of first-aid operations. However, we are running out of options simply because these cases require certain medication, certain baby milk, and certain nutrition.”
The situation is equally grim across the Gaza Strip, with the Health Ministry reporting that essential goods and nutritional supplements for children have not entered the besieged territory for two months.
More than 200 Palestinian children are currently at risk of dying due to malnutrition, the director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry told Al Jazeera.
