"Desperate children express concerns for their mother's safety as she braves difficulties to procure essentials"
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In the besieged Gaza Strip, women and children are bearing the brunt of a humanitarian crisis caused by the lack of aid and ongoing violence. Malnutrition levels have reached catastrophic proportions, with over 40% of pregnant and breastfeeding women severely malnourished, and a tenfold surge in acute malnutrition in children under five within four months.
Thousands of children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition that can have irreversible consequences. Hospital admissions for malnutrition-related complications, especially among children and pregnant women, have overwhelmed the fragile healthcare system, which is on the brink of collapse due to shortages of supplies, fuel, and medical staff exhaustion.
The risk to women and children is compounded by the continuous exposure to violence. Since May 27, over 1,060 people have been killed and 7,200 injured while trying to access food, highlighting the deadly risks civilians face daily under fire. Many families are trapped within shelling zones without safety, and health facilities are overwhelmed with casualties. The destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, worsens disease spread, creating a vicious cycle of illness and malnutrition.
In the midst of this crisis, women like Um Khader and Um Bilal are the sole providers for their children. They risk their lives daily to secure food, often facing threats and danger. Um Khader has faced danger at GHF distribution sites, including a bullet missing her by mere centimeters, and Walaa has been threatened by a man with a knife while trying to secure aid. These women and their children live in tents near dangerous points and are surrounded by a large crowd of men.
The lack of food has forced Um Khader and Um Bilal to go without food so their children can have every drop of the soup they get, yet the children always go to sleep hungry. Looted sacks of flour are sold in the market for exorbitant prices, unaffordable for these women and their children. The crisis has left them with only four GHF sites, over-crowded soup kitchens, or stopping and overpowering aid trucks as their only options for food.
Despite the hardships, these women stick together for protection. Um Khader and Um Bilal share food when they can, such as a bag of flour from a sympathetic stranger. Dalia, Um Bilal's 10-year-old daughter, expresses concern about their lack of food and tells her mother not to cry.
Israel announced a pause in fighting in certain areas and established corridors for humanitarian deliveries on the ground. Aid trucks are expected to pass through these dangerous points for delivery. However, on the night in question, no aid trucks passed through, and they all went back empty-handed.
The situation in Gaza amounts to a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe with immense impacts primarily on women and children. Sixty-three people have died of starvation in July alone, including 25 children, according to the World Health Organization. Nearly one in five of these children had severe acute malnutrition, the most life-threatening form.
References: - [1] UNICEF (2021). Gaza Crisis: Over 11,500 children sought treatment for malnutrition in July. [online] Available at: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/gaza-crisis-over-11-500-children-sought-treatment-malnutrition-july - [2] WHO (2021). Gaza Strip: More than 60 people died of starvation in July, including 25 children. [online] Available at: https://www.who.int/news/item/01-08-2021-gaza-strip-more-than-60-people-died-of-starvation-in-july-including-25-children - [3] OCHA (2021). Gaza Crisis: Humanitarian Update. [online] Available at: https://www.ochaopt.org/content/gaza-crisis-humanitarian-update - [4] Save the Children (2021). Gaza Crisis: Children's Lives at Risk. [online] Available at: https://www.savethechildren.net/content/dam/global/reports/2021/gaza-crisis-childrens-lives-at-risk-report.pdf
- The Middle East, particularly the Gaza Strip, is currently witnessing a significant health-and-wellness crisis, with severe malnutrition afflicting thousands of children and pregnant women.
- The world is confronted with a situation in Gaza that is teetering on the brink of a massive humanitarian catastrophe, with over 60 deaths due to starvation reported in July, including 25 children.
- The crisis in Gaza has sparked a surge in general-news headlines, highlighting the packing of hospitals due to malnutrition-related complications and the effect of the violence on mental-health issues among women and children.
- science has shown that the lack of nutrition in Gaza can result in irreversible consequences, both physically and mentally, and is a matter of extreme concern in terms of womens-health and mental-health.
- As the situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, the need for food aid, particularly in fitness-and-exercise to maintain health, as well as for mental-health support, grows increasingly urgent.
- The political landscape, both internationally and domestically, plays a crucial role in the delivery of aid and the resolution of the crisis in Gaza, with crime-and-justice implications if the humanitarian needs of the people are not met.
