'Worst-Case Scenario': Children Dying of Starvation, Dehydration in Gaza Hospitals

In what Palestinian officials on Wednesday called "'an international failure to protect humanity" from Israel's genocidal assault and blockade, at least six Palestinian children and infants have died of starvation, dehydration, and poisoning in Gaza hospitals in recent days.

The Gaza Health Ministry said that two children died at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, while four other children perished at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north. Seven other children remain in critical condition in the hospitals.

Quds News Networkreported that one infant, Ahmad Hijazzi, died at Kamal Adwan Hospital from malnutrition and poisoning after he consumed livestock feed, which starving Gazans are eating out of desperation. Other children have been poisoned from eating grass or drinking contaminated water. Newborns and infants born during the war to malnourished mothers are at particularly acute risk of death.

"The international community is facing a moral and humanitarian test to stop the genocide in Gaza," Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said. "We ask international agencies to intervene immediately to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in northern Gaza."

Gaza's hospitals are stretched beyond the breaking point. Kamal Adwan Hospital director Ahmed al-Kahlout toldAl Jazeera that the facility is no longer operational after running out of fuel to power its generators. There is also an acute lack of baby formula and other essential supplies.

"What we're seeing now is the worst-case scenario unfolding right before our eyes," Alexandra Saieh, head of policy and advocacy at the humanitarian group Save the Children International, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.

Saieh blamed the "relentless Israeli bombardment" and Israeli "restrictions that prevented the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance," and the "complete decimation of civilian infrastructure and services" for the current situation.

The Gaza Government Media Office said Wednesday that Israeli attacks have put 31 Gaza hospitals and scores more medical facilities out of service.

"The situation is dire, and it's getting worse," Saieh warned. "And it won't get better unless there is a cease-fire and we're able to scale up humanitarian assistance."

Delivery of humanitarian aid is being held up by Israeli restrictions as well as by extremist Israeli civilians who have set up encampments and roadblocks—one replete with a children's bouncy castle and carnival snacks—to block trucks from entering Gaza.

Earlier this week, Michael Fakhri, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food and a law professor at the University of Oregon, said that "intentionally depriving people of food is clearly a war crime," and that Gazans are enduring "a situation of genocide."

On Thursday, Israeli troops opened fire on a large crowd of starving Palestinians collecting food aid on al-Rashid Street in Gaza City, killing at least 112 people and wounding more than 700 others.

"The reports emerging are beyond horrific," Save the Children country director Jason Lee said in a statement. "A queue for lifesaving food became a line-up for death. While children are dying from lack of food, their parents are dying trying to get it."

Thursday's massacre pushed the Palestinian death toll in Israel's 146-day genocide to more than 30,000. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Thursday that "over 25,000" of those deaths are women and children."

Additionally, more than 70,000 other Palestinians have been wounded, while around 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forcibly displaced.

Last month, the International Court of Justice issued a provisional ruling that Israel is "plausibly" committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Israeli forces to prevent genocidal acts. Human rights groups this week accused Israel of ignoring the ruling.