Janet Samuel, Abuja
Amidst malnutrition among Palestinian children that is spreading fast and reaching devastating and unprecedented levels in the Gaza Strip due to the wide-reaching impacts of the war and ongoing restrictions on aid delivery , over 32,200 records of death have been revealed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Abdallah Shawesh in his weekly briefing with newsmen in Abuja said the impact of the war is mostly on children and women, quoting the European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell Fontelles saying “Gaza was Before the war the greatest open-air prison, today is the greatest open-air graveyard. A graveyard for tens of thousands of people and also graveyard for many of the most important principles of humanitarian law”.
He said, “According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health as of Sunday, March 24, approximately 32,200 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupation forces. Among the victims, 72% were women (around 8,800) and children (approximately 13,750). Additionally, around 74,500 Palestinians have been injured, with a majority being women and children. It is estimated that more than 8,100 people are missing under the rubble.
“The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) targeted Al-Shifa hospital, resulting in injuries and fatalities among patients, medical staff, and internally displaced persons seeking shelter there.”
He recalled that. “At least 27 civilians, including 23 children and elderly individuals, died due to dehydration and malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza. To add insult to injury, the Israeli occupation used to deny the entry of an entire truckloads due to a single rejected item on it, take into consideration that there is no official Israeli list of restricted items”
He noted that, “As of Monday, 25 March, the number of Palestinians arrested in the past 6 months are 7770 in the Occupied West Bank. This includes 250 women, including Palestinian women arrested from the 1948 land, as well as Gazan women who have been arrested in the OWB. Additionally, 500 children and 23 journalists have been sentenced to administrative detention, with more than 4400 administrative detention orders issued.
The Envoy lamented that, “Detention campaigns are accompanied by brutal beatings, vandalism, destruction of detainees houses, and confiscation of gold and money.”
“He added that, “Malnutrition among children is spreading fast and reaching devastating and unprecedented levels in the Gaza Strip due to the wide-reaching impacts of the war and ongoing restrictions on aid delivery.”
According to report, “4.5 per cent of the children in shelters and health centers suffer from severe wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition, which puts children at highest risk of medical complications and death unless they receive urgent therapeutic feeding and treatment, which is not available. The prevalence of acute malnutrition among children under 5 years of age in the north has increased from 13% to as high as 25%.”
