Save the Children says famine is slowly killing Gaza children

Inger Ashing, the head of the organisation Save the Children discussed during a UN Security Council meeting the severe malnutrition children currently face in Gaza, Middle East Eye via AFP reported on August 28th.

Ashing remarked that children in Gaza are gradually dying of famine, adding that some are too weak even shed tears.

She also emphasised that famine is not merely a technical term. Rather, she said, children dying of hunger initially burn fat to survive, then consume muscle and vital organs, wasting away in a matter of weeks, highlighting the brutal reality people face in the enclave.

“Yet our clinics are almost silent. Now, children do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony. They lie there, emaciated, quite literally wasting away,” she mentioned.

On August 22nd, the UN formally declared famine in Gaza, citing ongoing obstruction of aid deliveries by Israel during over 22 months of conflict. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), around 500,000 people are already affected by famine, and the number could rise to two-thirds of Gaza’s population by September 30th.

Following the Security Council session, 14 members, excluding the United States, issued a joint statement conveying concern and urging Israel to stop restricting food aid access.

Efforts to deliver aid to Gaza have been renewed as of late. A Panamanian-flagged cargo ship carrying 1,200 tons of food aid departed from Cyprus to reach Israel’s port of Ashdod. The shipment includes pasta, rice, canned goods, and baby food, with contributions from Cyprus, Italy, Malta, Kuwait, and the Amalthea Fund.

The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA has said that at least 66,000 children in Gaza are experiencing severe malnutrition due to the blockade. The international community has been called upon to ensure that aid reaches affected populations, particularly children, and to prevent a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation.