UNRWA says children in Gaza are dying slowly before our eyes

Emaciated 10-year-old Palestinian child, Yazan al-Kafarneh, has died in Yousef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah from severe malnourishment and insufficient healthcare, which was exacerbated by Israel’s total siege on the Gaza Strip. A few days ago, Yazan’s father had pleaded with the world for help, showing a photo of his son before the war in full health, and describing how he couldn’t find the food, water or medicine that Yazan needed.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned on Sunday that “children in the Gaza Strip are dying slowly before the eyes of the world.” The agency made its comment on X in response to a statement by UNICEF, following the death of fifteen children as a result of dehydration and malnutrition in Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.

“The children’s deaths that we feared would happen have become a reality, while malnutrition is sweeping the Gaza Strip,” said UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khader.

The ongoing Israeli offensive against the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women. Moreover, it has created a humanitarian crisis wherein the vast majority of the population of Gaza faces the threat of mass starvation.

READ: Bombing of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians ‘outrageous’: WHO chief

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