Shahenaj al Dibes sits beside her emaciated 14-year-old son, Musab, in a Gaza City hospital. His weight has dropped from 40 kilograms to 10 kilograms due to malnutrition. Musab also suffers from an untreated skull fracture from an Israeli airstrike in May, requiring treatment abroad. His mother pleads for help, saying, 'I'm asking from those who are listening to us and anyone with a conscience to hasten treatment for my son abroad so he can say the word mummy again.'
Doctors at Shifa Hospital report a surge in severe malnutrition cases. Dr. Motaz Harara says, 'We used to see a case or two, now we see 10 cases or so every day. The situation is deteriorating and the number of the wounded and the starving people is on the rise.' On a nearby table, orderlies clean the body of another 14-year-old who appears to have starved to death.
More than 108 international organisations have called for Israel to immediately open all crossings into Gaza and allow the United Nations-led distribution system to restart. Bushra Khalidi from Oxfam states, 'The government of Israel's restriction, its total siege, its closing of seven crossings into Gaza. Seven. There are seven crossings into Gaza. If we were to open every single crossing right now, within an hour, we could get hundreds of trucks in.'
Israel defends its policy, saying it allows aid but that humanitarian organisations fail to pick it up. Government spokesman David Mencer argues, 'Hamas hijacks the aid, they charge their own people... they are using the money to pay for their terrorist fighters. And this seems to be the last leg which Hamas is standing on, which is why it is so important to cut Hamas out of the distribution process.' However, almost 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, allegedly by Israeli fire, while trying to obtain limited food from private contractors.
