ActionAid: Women in Gaza giving birth to stillborn babies

International humanitarian organisation ActionAid has stated that women in the Gaza Strip are giving birth to stillborn babies amid fears of a looming famine and the collapse of humanitarian operations.

In a statement released on its website on Wednesday, ActionAid reported that acute malnutrition has led to an increase in child deaths and stillborn births.

“Many cases were recorded in government hospitals of children who died due to malnutrition,” ActionAid quoted Mohammed Salih, director of Al-Awda, as saying. Al-Awda is ActionAid’s partner in northern Gaza.

“We are a hospital specialised in women’s services and childbirth. There are many operations that have been performed, like caesarean sections to remove fetuses, [which] died due to malnutrition among women. More than 95 per cent of women [who] come to the hospital and undergo the necessary medical examinations [are suffering] from anaemia,” Salih added.

ActionAid warned in its statement that an: “Already extremely strained humanitarian system will face total collapse amidst the apparent looming offensive of Rafah.”

The organisation quoted Amjad Al-Shawa of the Palestinian NGOs Network in Gaza stating that the: “Airdrop [of humanitarian aid] is not enough at all in such conditions; there is a need for land transportation of aid. Every day, we’re in [dire] need of 4,000 truckloads in order to cover the basic needs of these people.”

Watch: UN experts say Israel intentionally starving the Palestinian people in Gaza