‘Around 50,000 pregnant and nursing women are at serious risk in Gaza due to shortages of food, essential medicines’
Gaza: At least 95 Palestinians have been killed and 440 injured by Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The war in Gaza is having a devastating effect on pregnant women and nursing mothers, with an estimated 50,000 at serious risk due to shortages of food and essential medicines, according to a hospital in central Gaza, reported Al Jazeera.
Khalil al-Daqran, spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, said rates of miscarriage had increased sixfold since the outbreak of war and had been accompanied by a large rise in premature births, Wafa reported.
That had left Gaza’s embattled neonatal units overwhelmed, he said.
Al-Daqran said Israel’s targeting of the healthcare had brought it to the brink of collapse, with far-reaching impacts on patients in Gaza.
More than 23 hospitals had been put out of action, with those that remained only partly functioning, as a result of severe shortages of medical supplies and fuel, he said.
That meant more than 12,000 cancer patients were left without treatment, resulting in about five deaths a day, while dialysis patients were also dying through a lack of essential treatment.
According to Middle East Monitor, 41% of kidney failure patients have died since the beginning of the ongoing Israeli assault, as a result of their inability to receive dialysis treatment due to the destruction of medical facilities and the collapse of essential health services.
Aid suspended
Meanwhile, the United States- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) suspended aid distribution in the war-torn territory on Wednesday, a day after Israeli forces again opened fire on Palestinian aid seekers near a GHF distribution site, killing at least 27 and injuring more than 100.
Israel’s military also said that approach roads to the aid distribution centres will be “considered combat zones” on Wednesday, and warned that people in Gaza should heed the GHF announcement to stay away.
“We confirm that travel is prohibited tomorrow on roads leading to the distribution centers…and entry to the distribution centers is strictly forbidden,” an Israeli military spokesperson said.
In a post on social media, GHF said the temporary suspension was necessary to allow for “renovation, reorganisation and efficiency improvement work”.
“Due to the ongoing updates, entry to the distribution centre areas is slowly prohibited! Please do not go to the site and follow general instructions. Operations will resume on Thursday. Please continue to follow updates,” the group said.
The temporary suspension of aid comes as more than 100 Palestinian people seeking aid have been reported killed by Israeli forces in the vicinity of GHF distribution centres since the organisation started operating in the enclave on May 27.
The killing of people desperately seeking food supplies triggered mounting international outrage with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanding an independent inquiry into the deaths and for “perpetrators to be held accountable”.
“It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” Guterres said.
“It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” Guterres said.
The Israeli military has admitted it shot at aid seekers on Tuesday, but claimed that they opened fire when “suspects” deviated from a stipulated route as a crowd of Palestinians was making its way to the GHF distribution site in Gaza.
‘Syrian weapons struck down’
Separately, the Israeli military said in a statement it struck weapons belonging to the Syrian regime in southern Syria, in a second attack that Israel launched after claiming that two projectiles were fired from Syria into Golan Heights on Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the two projectiles, according to Reuters.
Syrian state news agency and security sources reported a series of Israeli strikes, the first major ones in nearly a month, targeting several sites in the Damascus countryside and Quneitra and Daraa.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz had said earlier that he held Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible for the two projectile launches.
“We consider the president of Syria directly responsible for any threat and fire toward the State of Israel, and a full response will come soon,” Katz claimed.
