\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI met a little boy who was wounded by a tank shell at one of these sites on the final day of me leaving Gaza – I learnt that this little boy had since died of those injuries,\u201d<\/strong> said UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. \u201cThat speaks to both what is happening at these sites and what is not happening when it comes to medical evacuations.\u201d<\/p>\n A recent online video featuring a dying 13-year-old Abed al-Rahman who Mr. Elder met while on mission in Gaza has been seen thousands of times since it was published on 6 June. In the clip, Abed explains that he has been asking for pain relief for his shrapnel wounds, but none is available.<\/p>\n Speaking to journalists from Amman, Mr. Elder explained that partly destroyed hospitals including Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis continue to treat wounded\u00a0children, despite a shortage of medicine and medical supplies.<\/p>\n \u201cHumanitarian aid is so much more than food in a box; it’s oxygen kits, it’s ventilators, it’s hygiene packs; it’s medicines, it’s incubators,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt’s all those things the United Nations was doing just a couple of months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Elder added that parents whose children need oxygen have been leaving hospital \u201cbecause of the fear that Nasser may come under attack again. As the doctors told me, if you have a child who needs oxygen and they leave without the oxygen, they will, over a matter of time, die in a tent.\u201d<\/p>\n The dire shortage of the most basic life-sustaining aid linked to Israeli restrictions continues to create desperation and starvation across Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cI spoke to a grandmother in tears saying, how am I possibly to get to these sites?\u201d Mr. Elder explained. \u201cI’ve met young men who’ve been seven times and never returned with anything. So, there’s a complete lack of equity. There’s a complete lack of sites. You cannot distribute aid in a militarised zone, in a combat zone, by one party to the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n Those most susceptible to the lack of fresh drinking water, food and fuel are the weakest Gazans: the young, pregnant women, the elderly and amputees, Mr. Elder said.\u00a0<\/p>\n It would be impossible for them to walk the long distances required to fetch scant supplies from controversial non-UN aid hubs.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have half a million people facing starvation with a lethal choice of being forced into very small pockets where most people can’t access into what are officially known as combat sites,\u201d the UNICEF spokesperson explained. \u201cWe know children [who have been] killed at these sites.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, malnutrition and the impact of it on people\u2019s weakened immune systems continues to take its toll, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned.<\/p>\n \u201cThe latest reports say 610 patients have been admitted due to severe malnutrition complications,\u201d said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier. \u201cBut what does that mean? That means these are the lucky ones who made it so far to get to a place.\u00a0<\/p>\n “This does not count the many who were too weak to reach any point, who are too weak, who cannot be transported because the roads are blocked, because there are no ambulances, or because the hospitals, some of the health emergency centres have been shelled and bombed and are being constantly shelled and bombed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nDesperation, starvation<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Lethal choice<\/strong><\/h2>\n