From Haaretz: “A medic cleans the body of Palestinian youth Abdul Jawad al-Ghalban, 14, who died of starvation at the Nasser hospital morgue in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.”

From January of this year, to May, 150 children have been admitted into hospital for malnourishment in Gaza, signifying the nightmarish reality. As we read in Haaretz:

“In just 150 days, from the start of the year until the end of May, 16,736 children – an average of 112 children a day – have been admitted for treatment for malnutrition in the Gaza Strip,” UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, said in a statement.

“Every one of these cases is preventable. The food, water, and nutrition treatments they desperately need are being blocked from reaching them. Man-made decisions that are costing lives. Israel must urgently allow the large-scale delivery of life-saving aid through all border crossings.”

UNICEF has warned that the number of severe malnourishment cases is likely to rise in the coming weeks and may reach its highest level since the war began. Severity is also on the rise. Of the 5,119 children hospitalized in May, 636 were suffering from severe acute malnourishment, the most lethal level. To survive, these children need constant supervision, clean water and medical care, all of which are becoming less available in Gaza.