CNN
–
4-year-old Razan Abu Zaher gave up on the fight for life on Sunday.
According to medical sources, she died in a hospital in central Gaza from complications caused by hunger and malnutrition. Her skeleton was placed on a stone slab.
Since the conflict began in October 2023, at least 76 children in Gaza have died of malnutrition, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says. Most of these have occurred since Israeli authorities imposed a lockdown in early March, according to the World Health Organization.
Razan was one of at least four children who succumbed in the past three days, the youngest being just three months old. Over the past 24 hours, 18 deaths have been recorded due to hunger in Gaza, the Ministry of Health says it reflects the territorial deepening crisis.
CNN first met Razan a month ago. She is already hungry, weak, and pathetic. Her mother, Tahrir Abu Dha, said she had no money to buy milk, but she was rarely available in any case.
“Her health was very good before the war, but after the war, her condition began to deteriorate due to malnutrition. There’s nothing to strengthen her.”
It was June 23rd. Razan was already in the hospital for 12 days. She was brought back to life for another 27 days.
Razan died amid the spread of starvation in Gaza, causing the flow of humanitarian aid to drop significantly since the beginning of March, when Israeli authorities banned them from entering Gaza.
The ban was partially lifted at the end of May, but aid agencies say how much they would reach territory that is too little to maintain their population.
Israel said it has stopped shipping aid to Gaza because Hamas had been stealing from it and profiting from it — Hamas denies it. Israeli agencies also say the UN has not picked up aid ready to move to Gaza. The UN says it frequently refuses Israeli forces to frequently deny permission to move aid within Gaza, and is waiting for further permission.
The Israeli agency (Cogat), which manages the flow of aid to the Gaza Strip, a coordinator of government activities on the territory, said in a statement that the IDF “works to allow and promote the relocation” of humanitarian assistance, including food.
“From the beginning of hostilities until today, around 67,000 food trucks have entered the Gaza Strip and have served around 1.5 million tonnes of food,” Cogat said.
“Israel will continue to promote food invasion,” Gaza said, “as taking all possible steps to prevent terrorist organization Hamas from seizing aid.”
Gaza has relied heavily on food aid and commercial shipping before the conflict began in October 2023, and since then the shortage of food, medical supplies, fuel and other essentials has been exacerbated.
The food rarity since March has sent hospitals that have already been overwhelmed by the rapidly increasing number of people.
“Gaza is witnessing the worst stages of hunger that have reached catastrophic levels amid unprecedented international silence,” said Dr. Khalil Al-Dakran, a spokesman for Al-Aqsa Marters Hospital, where Razan died.
Al Daklan said the now-dead toddler was taken away from his childhood twice.
“An unprecedented number of hungry citizens of all ages has arrived in the emergency department in severe fatigue and fatigue,” the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.
“The hundreds of people whose bodies are so weakened are at risk of imminent death because the hunger and their bodies can no longer bear it,” the ministry added.
Palestine Human Rights Centre – An NGO working in Gaza reported on Sunday that one of the Gaza teams had said: “Our faces have changed and our bodies have been wasted.
Dr Suhaib Al-Hams, director of Kuwait Field Hospital at Khan Younis, told CNN: “Their bodies reach a point beyond durability and are at risk of death, so they need to crave food before medicine.”
“Today, World Central Kitchen stopped sending food for medical staff. They only sent us rice. Doctors work 24 hours a day, both at home and at hospital, without food.
World Central Kitchen confirmed that the Gaza team has run out of ingredients to cook a hot meal.
“We have served 80,000 meals yesterday (Saturday) and empty the end of the restocked stock, and the aid truck remains stuck at the border.
“This is the second time we have suspended our kitchen operations due to the lack of access to aid,” he added.
In their hopelessness, thousands of people risk their lives to find something to eat every day. They were reportedly killed in northern Gaza on Sunday as they desperately sought food aid, according to the Health Ministry, which said they were shot dead by Israeli forces.
The Israeli Defense Force said troops in the area “firing warning shots to remove the immediate threat posed against them. The IDF is aware of allegations regarding casualties in the area, and details of the incident are still under consideration.”
“The initial review suggests that the number of reported casualties does not match the information held by the IDF,” he added.
Dr Mohammed Absalmiya, director of Arshifa Hospital, where many of the victims were filmed, said “a considerable number of civilians, and even medical staff, have arrived in a state of fainting or collapse due to severe malnutrition.”
About 800 Palestinians were killed while trying to access aid in Gaza between late May and July 7, according to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
During that period, OHCHR recorded the killings of 798 people, of which 615 were killed near the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site. He added that 183 people had been killed “on the route of the aid convoy.”
Dozens more have been killed, including more than 30 people in South Gaza on Saturday, according to the Ministry of Health.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher told the UN Security Council on Thursday that food is running out of stock in Gaza. “People seeking the risk of being shot and killed. People are almost dying trying to support their families.”
He said the hunger rate among children reached its highest level in June, with over 5,800 girls and boys diagnosed with acute malnutrition.
The United Nations Coordination Agency for Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday that “we are receiving deeply troubling reports of malnourished children and adults being admitted to hospitals with little resources to properly handle them.”
On Saturday, Salmad Tamimi, a plastic surgeon who received medical assistance for Palestinians, told CNN: “To be honest, I feel that lucky people will be killed soon.
