Over 65,000 children hospitalized for malnutrition as Israel starves Gaza
More than 65,000 Palestinian children have been hospitalized due to severe malnutrition as Israel continues to use starvation as “systematic weapons of war” in the Gaza Strip, officials say.
The Gaza Government Media Office warned in a statement on Monday that “the continuous closure of border crossings has caused a catastrophic deterioration in health conditions, especially among children and infants.”
Zionist regime is “using starvation and thirst as systematic weapons of war against civilians, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
The Gaza government reiterated that the Zionist regime has to be held responsible for “endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of children, women and elderly people due to the lack of food, medicine and clean water.”
It also called for immediate international action to “save lives and halt the catastrophic humanitarian collapse” in Gaza.
The statement called for all border crossings into the coastal enclave to be reopened to allow the urgent entry of humanitarian aid, nutritional supplements, and medical supplies, particularly for children and critically ill patients.
Zionist regime halted all aid deliveries to Gaza since it broke a two-month ceasefire agreement on March 19.
Volker Turk, UN human rights Chief, warned on Tuesday that the regime’s “use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of war constitutes a war crime.”
Turk urged the international community to halt a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza, and “bring to justice all perpetrators of crimes under international law."