Palestinians struggle to receive cooked food distributed at a community kitchen in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, on May 23.Abdel Kareem Hana/The Associated Press
Inside a clinic in Gaza, pregnant women who are malnourished are told that their treatment, fortified high-energy biscuits, is for them and not to be shared. Often, they return to the clinic only for medical staff to discover that they haven’t gained any weight. They gave their treatment to their hungry children.
Amy Low, a Canadian nurse who works in Gaza with Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders), said she’s noticed an increase in pregnant and lactating women who are malnourished. She said it’s their protocol to support pregnant women who are malnourished with rations until they deliver their baby. Food is so hard to find.
UN agencies have been warning that people in Gaza are at serious risk of famine, and say that while aid has started entering the territory, it’s not nearly enough.
On Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that “Palestinians in Gaza are enduring what may be the cruellest phase of this cruel conflict.” He added that for nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of life-saving aid and that “finally, a trickle of aid has crossed over.” Mr. Guterres said that almost 400 trucks were cleared in recent days, but only supplies from 115 trucks could be distributed.
Earlier this week, the leaders of Canada, Britain and France threatened to take measures against Israel if it didn’t cease its renewed military operation in Gaza and continued to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching people there.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck back, accusing the leaders of “emboldening Hamas to continue fighting forever” and saying that they are “on the wrong side of history.”
Mr. Netanyahu said that Israel, since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, has sent 92,000 aid trucks into Gaza and insists that Hamas steals it. He said that in consultation with the U.S., they determined that American companies will distribute aid in “safe zones secured by our military.” He said the construction of such zones will be complete in the coming days.
Aid groups have strongly condemned the prospect of Israel taking over aid distribution. Mr. Netanyahu said that in the meantime Israel has authorized trucks to enter Gaza.
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Last weekend, as Israel launched a renewed assault on Gaza, ceasefire talks were restarted in Qatar. Mr. Netanyahu said Thursday that he is ready for a temporary ceasefire in order to free hostages who are held by Hamas. There are 58 hostages in Gaza, and about a third are believed to be alive.
Ms. Low, whose been on her current assignment in Gaza since May 6, has seen how the lack of aid is affecting people. She said the aid that has arrived is not nearly enough. During the temporary ceasefire earlier this year, for instance, about 600 trucks would enter each day.
She said makeshift shops that once lined the beach, where people sold soap, food and electronics, have closed. Fruit and vegetable sellers have shut down or have very little on offer.
While aid has started entering Gaza, UN agencies say it’s not nearly enough.Abdel Kareem Hana/The Associated Press
Getting food is difficult, she said, but so is cooking. The blockade has prevented fuel from getting in, so everything is powered by generators. If people don’t have one, they cook on open fires but that also requires finding things to burn. Often people burn trash, she said. She’s also seen medical staff such as nurses and doctors collect boxes that medication comes in to take home to burn so they can cook.
Ms. Low said that if a pregnant woman is malnourished, her baby could also be malnourished or have a low birth weight. Mothers have a difficult time breastfeeding, she said, because in addition to the challenge of food, they have to deal with the enormous stress of raising a baby in Gaza.
“When I worked in the maternity a few times, women would tell me: ‘Well, where do I go now? I’ve been displaced, my husband hasn’t arrived; he’s trying to find a place to put up a tent. I have to go home with my newborn to a tent,’ ” she said, adding that they also have to worry about attacks.
She said they have seen many children under six months old who are malnourished. “We have babies as well that come in that have been born during this time and who are malnourished and I’m not sure they’ve ever been well-nourished.”
MSF, she said, is running a few primary health care centres and is supporting maternity and pediatrics at Nasser Hospital. In addition to malnutrition, she said that in the primary health care centres, they are seeing an increased number of people with skin diseases, scabies and lice, mostly because of the poor hygienic conditions people are living in.
“It’s quite difficult to live in a tent on the sand for 18 months, getting water, getting food. Keeping clean is very difficult,” she said.
And, she added, between 70 to 100 patients come in daily for dressing changes. Ms. Low said patients who have endured blast injuries or gunshot wounds need to be treated regularly. The most traumatic injuries they encounter are burns from airstrikes.
“Children come in with their whole leg burned and that requires dressing and healing, but this takes time,” she said. “You’re talking about a whole leg where the skin’s off.”