The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that 19 of every 100 Palestinian children in Gaza are malnourished. That is up from 15 in July. Even more worrying, UNICEF found an increase in cases of acute malnutrition. In July 8.5% of children examined manifested symptoms of the condition. In August, it was 13.5%.
Al Jazeera reports that Lamia Heggi is 9 years old but is skin and bones. Her mother says, “My daughter suffers from severe malnutrition and needs to be treated outside the Gaza Strip. She lost nine kilograms [10 pounds] in the last six months, and her weight is now only ten kilograms [22 pounds]. She’s not doing well at all, and her whole health situation is not achieving any progress.”
An average American nine-year-old girl weighs 76 pounds or 35 kilograms.
A physician is quoted as saying, “Many children here suffer from severe bloating, and antibiotics are no longer effective for them because of their weakened immunity. We don’t have the basic needs for life. In Gaza, there is no food, no nutritional supplements, no medical care for children who are in dire need of treatment abroad.”
The true percentage of malnourished children in Gaza is higher, since this statistic is generated by examinations in outpatient treatment centers throughout the Strip. But the current Israeli military invasion of Gaza City has caused 10 of these centers to close down. Fewer examinations means fewer children recorded with malnutrition, despite the likelihood that the number has increased even more.
The Israeli military authorities are not letting enough food trucks into the Strip to stave off famine, which was officially declared by the IPC in late August.
CGTN: UNICEF: An urgent call to support children in Gaza
Since August 8, the Israeli military has destroyed large numbers of apartment buildings and has systematically demolished neighborhoods in North Gaza, including areas of Al Zaytoun, Ash Shujaiyeh, As Sabra, At Tuffah and Jabalya. It has also bombed several residential towers in Gaza City in the past two weeks. The UN notes that there is no evidence any of these civilian objects had a military value, despite wild Israeli charges. So the closure of outpatient treatment centers is to be expected.
The Israeli military has killed some 20,000 Palestinian children in Gaza in the past 23 months.
Malnutrition is caused by lack of food and entails lack of vitamins and minerals that are necessary for the body’s production of enzymes and hormones that children need for growth and development.
Detail of file photo of Gaza, March 9, 2024, by Emad El Byed on Unsplash
Acute malnutrition is typically characterized by wasting, or loss of muscle and body mass, and can be measured in part by “low mid-upper arm circumference” or MUAC.
Severe malnutrition can have permanent negative effects on children’s cognitive abilities and can produce behavioral problems later on.
Juan R. I. Cole is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. For three and a half decades, he has sought to put the relationship of the West and the Muslim world in historical context, and he has written widely about Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and South Asia. His books include Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires; The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East; Engaging the Muslim World; and Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East.
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