6-week old infant among 15 Palestinians in Gaza to die of starvation, medics say
WHO says Israeli military attacked compound and interrogated, detained staff
Six-week-old Yousef's lifeless body lay limp on a hospital table in Gaza City, his skin stretched over protruding ribs and a bandage where a drip had been inserted into his tiny arm. Doctors said the cause of death was starvation.
The infant is among 15 people to starve to death in the last 24 hours in Gaza, according to doctors who say a wave of hunger that has loomed over the enclave for months is now finally crashing down.
Yousef's family couldn't find baby formula to feed him, said his uncle, Adham al-Safadi.
"You can't get milk anywhere, and if you do find any, it's $100 US for a tub," he said, looking at his dead nephew.
Three of the other Palestinians who died of hunger over the last day were also children, including 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, who died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in airstrikes, shelling and shooting since launching their assault on Gaza in response to attacks on Israel by Hamas-led militants that killed 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages in October 2023.
For the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of hunger.
Gaza has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May with new measures it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups.
At least 101 people are known to have died of hunger during the conflict, according to Palestinian officials, including 80 children, most of them in just the last few weeks.
Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, denies that it is responsible for shortages of food. Israel's military said that it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza as a matter of utmost importance" and works to facilitate its entry in co-ordination with the international community.
It has blamed the United Nations for failing to protect aid it says is often stolen by Hamas and other militants. The fighters deny stealing it.
Food and medicine shortages
Khalil al-Deqran, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry, said some 600,000 people were suffering from malnutrition, including at least 60,000 pregnant women. Symptoms among those going hungry include dehydration and anemia, he said.
"Hospitals are already overwhelmed by the number of casualties from gunfire. They can't provide much more help for hunger-related symptoms because of food and medicine shortages."
Baby formula is in critically short supply, according to aid groups, doctors and residents.
Tank shelling killed another 16 people living in tents in Gaza City on Tuesday, as Israeli troops launched attacks across the strip, health officials said. The Israeli military said it wasn't aware of any incident or artillery in the area at that time.
The Health Ministry said at least 72 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes in the past 24 hours.
Finding food has become a deadly task
Daily food gathering has become a deadly task for Gazans, with UNRWA estimating that more than 1,000 people have died while trying to receive food aid since May.
On Tuesday, men and boys lugged sacks of flour past destroyed buildings and tarpaulins in Gaza City, grabbing what food they could from aid warehouses.
"We haven't eaten for five days," said Mohammed Jundia. "Famine is killing people."
Israeli military statistics showed on Tuesday that an average of 146 trucks of aid per day had entered Gaza over the course of the war. The United States has said a minimum of 600 trucks per day are needed to feed Gaza's population.
Twenty-five Western countries, which have backed Israel's war against Hamas, issued a statement on Monday condemning Israel over the "inhuman killing" of civilians in Gaza, but there was no indication that further action would be taken against Israel.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the Israeli military "must stop killing people at distribution points," and that "all options" were on the table if Israel didn't expand humanitarian access, but did not say what those options included.
The EU remains divided over how hard a line to take. Germany refrained from signing the statement, which Israel dismissed as "disconnected from reality," saying Hamas was shooting civilians at aid distribution points. It provided no evidence for the claim.
Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a 60-day truce and hostage deal, although there has been no sign of breakthrough.
Israeli troops for the first time Monday pushed into areas of a central Gaza city where several aid groups are based, in what appeared to be the latest effort to carve up the Palestinian territory with military corridors.
Deir Al-Balah is the only Gaza city that has not seen major ground operations or suffered widespread devastation in 21 months of war, leading to speculation that the Hamas militant group holds large numbers of hostages there. The main group representing hostages' families said it was "shocked and alarmed" by the incursion and demanded answers from Israeli leaders.
Israel says the seizure of territory in Gaza is aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages, but it is a major point of contention in ongoing ceasefire talks.
WHO says compound raided, staff detained
The World Health Organization (WHO) says Israel raided its main staff residence in Deir Al-Balah and detained staff members, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward the coast.
"Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint," the UN health agency said in a statement. It said two staff and two family members were detained, with three later released and one still being held.
The WHO said its main warehouse in the city, which is in the evacuation zone, was damaged by an explosion and a fire, hurting the agency's ability to help hospitals and emergency medical teams. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had earlier said two UN guesthouses in Deir Al-Balah were damaged by shrapnel. He said the cause was still being investigated but that heavy Israeli airstrikes had been reported in the area.
Local and international staff will continue to work there, he said.
The military declined to say if it had ordered the evacuation of aid groups based in the city, saying only that it maintains continuous contact with them and facilitates their relocation when necessary.
With files from The Associated Press