On May 21 the U.S.-based Project HOPE issued a report which focussed on the hunger of women and children in Gaza. Project HOPE has been operating six health clinics in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis which are increasingly overwhelmed, as other clinics have closed or have had to turn people away for lack of supplies. Project HOPE found that in some areas, 42% of pregnant women are malnourished, and many children have not eaten real food in weeks. Often these children live off of High Energy Biscuits (HEBs) and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), which are designed for short-term survival needs, but are not long-term nourishment for growing children.
A nurse at one of the clinics said that the children are “losing weight, becoming withdrawn, and getting sick more easily. We’re doing everything we can, but we’re seeing the consequences of extreme hunger in an entire generation. Without more food and aid coming in, I fear for their future.”
Over May 21-22, in Gaza 29 children and elderly have died from starvation, according to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan. UNICEF indicated that it is treating 9,000 children in Gaza for malnutrition, and a report earlier this month by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification estimated that 71,000 children under 5 years of age face acute malnutrition in Gaza.
