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War between Israel and Hamas: children, first victims of the conflict in Gaza
War between Israel and Hamas: children, first victims of the conflict in Gaza
(FRANCEINFO)
According to the WHO, one in six children under the age of 2 suffers from acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip. The hospitals seem helpless.
Doctors had almost become accustomed to power cuts in Gaza’s hospitals. They now have to face infant starvation. In a pediatric unit at Kamal Adwan Hospital, four babies died within the week, and several others are in intensive care. “My nephew suffers from severe dehydration due to lack of milk. His mother breastfeeds him, but she herself has no food”confides Rabab Hamoudah, Sunday March 3.
Children are at risk of infections and blood diseases
Apart from saline or glucose infusions, which are also lacking, the hospital seems helpless, and the mothers even more so. Starvation also affects older children. Malnutrition leads to sometimes tragic medical complications, which are increasingly observed by doctors. “A child is supposed to eat three meals a day. When he has only one, it is sure to trigger infections, even blood diseases”, explains Dr. Imad Dardonah, pediatrician at Kamal Adwan Hospital. The WHO estimates that a child under 2 years out of six suffer from acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip.
