Death toll from malnutrition, dehydration at Gaza hospitals surges to 25

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The death toll from malnutrition and dehydration in the Gaza Strip has risen to 25, following the deaths of two more victims, including an infant, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said Saturday.

“A two-month-old female baby died at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, and another aged 20 at Al-Shifa Medical Complex, due to malnutrition and dehydration,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The announced toll of malnutrition and dehydration victims reflects only those who have reached hospitals,” it said. “The increasing number of malnutrition and dehydration victims is extremely worrying and confirms that famine in northern Gaza has reached lethal levels.”

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas, in which less than 1,200 people were killed.

At least 30,960 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and 72,524 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, leaving its population, particularly residents in the north, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala