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So far, at least 20 children have died of starvation, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
At the same time, convoys of supplies are stopped from entering.
The situation has prompted the US to plan for a port of emergency – but completion may be delayed.
It is not only bombs that kill the people of Gaza. The most urgent situation now concerns the lack of food which causes people to starve.
Husam Abu Safiya, head of Kamal Adwan Hospital, told the AP news agency that his staff treats between 300 and 400 people a day. According to him, 75 percent of them suffer from malnutrition.
Fatima Shaheen, 70, who lives with her two sons in northern Gaza, told the news agency AP that she and her family, among other things, grind rabbit food to use as flour.
– We are dying for a piece of bread, she says.
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fullscreen The US plans to build an emergency port outside Gaza to bring in supplies. Photo: US Army Handout (File Image)
Convoys are stopped at the border
Israel blames the famine on the failure of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, to distribute food and medicine, AP writes.
Meanwhile, convoys of supplies have been forced to turn around at the border into Gaza, which Israel controls. According to Unrwa, Israeli authorities have not allowed deliveries into northern Gaza since January 23.
The United States, has therefore delivered food packages, dropped from airplanes since a week ago. Last Saturday, the United States released 40,000 meals. The other day, however, there were allegations that several people died when a delivery crashed to the ground.
The package’s parachute must not have been deployed. This has been refuted by the Pentagon.
“All aid packages landed safely and reports of deaths and injuries are false,” the Pentagon said, according to Sky News.
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full screen Several countries have started delivering emergency aid from the air. Photo: Mohammed Hajjar/AP
Building emergency port
The situation has prompted the United States to begin plans to build a port in Gaza that could receive emergency aid.
But completing it would take upwards of 60 days, according to the country’s defense ministry. It would also require around 1,000 Americans to help build it.
Then it would be able to supply the population of Gaza with more than two million kilos of food a day.
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10-year-old Yazan died in the hospital in Gaza.
1 / 2Photo: Hatem Ali/Associated Press
At least 20 children dead from starvation
According to several aid organizations, over two million people are suffering from famine. So far, at least 20 children have died of starvation at the two hospitals, Kamal Adwan and Shifa Hospital, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
One of the children, Yazan Kafarneh, 10, died in hospital in Gaza on Sunday.
The picture of the boy has received a lot of attention in social media and in the international press.
He suffered from starvation and had not received his medicines, of which there was a shortage, writes The New York Times. He died on Monday.
Resuming aid
At the end of January, several countries stopped their aid to UNRWA. This after accusations that several of their employees would have been involved in the terrorist attacks in Israel on 7 October.
Earlier this week, Canada decided to resume aid to UNRWA and on Saturday Ekot reported that Sweden is also resuming aid to the UN organization.
– We have also received guarantees that Swedish money will be protected in case something improper is discovered. Then we think we are in a position where we can pay out part of our support to Unrwa this year, says Johan Forsell to Ekot.