Geneva, Switzerland:
An aid mission to two hospitals in northern Gaza revealed horrific images of children dying of hunger amid severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency's visits this weekend to Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals were “the first since early October 2023, despite our efforts to gain more regular access to northern Gaza.”
The findings were “eerie”, he said of X, adding that “the situation in Al-Awda was particularly terrible as one of the buildings was destroyed”.
Kamal Adwan Hospital, the only children's hospital in northern Gaza, was overwhelmed with patients, he said.
“The lack of food resulted in the deaths of ten children,” Tedros said.
In total, Gaza's health ministry said at least 16 children have died from malnutrition in aid-poor northern Gaza.
The United Nations warned last week that famine in the Gaza Strip was “almost inevitable” due to the war raging in the Palestinian territory since Hamas operatives carried out an unprecedented attack in Israel on October 7.
That attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
It also saw Hamas operatives kidnap 250 hostages, 130 of whom remain in captivity, including 31 presumed dead, Israel said.
More than 30,500 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive against the Palestinian territory, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-administered Gaza.
In addition to the serious lack of food in the two northern hospitals, Tedros
During the weekend mission, the UN health agency delivered 9,500 liters of fuel to each hospital, along with some essential medical supplies, he said.
“This is a fraction of the urgent life-saving needs.”
The WHO chief reiterated a call for Israel to “ensure that humanitarian aid can be delivered safely and regularly.”
“Citizens, especially children, and healthcare workers need more help immediately,” he said, emphasizing that “the most important medicine that all these patients need is peace. A ceasefire.”
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