'An Avoidable Disaster': Israeli Blockade of Gaza Could Starve Hundreds of Premature Babies

Israel's blockade of aid is starving hundreds of premature babies, according to new reports that cite Gaza health officials, doctors, and aid groups.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that 580 premature infants are at risk of death, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, due to a shortage of medical-grade formula entering the strip.

Despite a recent policy change by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow "minimal aid" into the strip following a total blockade of food, water, shelter, and medication, it has proven far too little to keep hospitals running and keep people fed. It has proven especially deadly for children.

The AP report quotes Dr. Ahmed al-Farah, head of the pediatrics and obstetrics department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, one of the few functional medical facilities left in Gaza.

Last week, al-Farah warned that the hospital's stock of milk was "completely depleted," and that unless aid was delivered immediately, the babies would face "an avoidable disaster." The widely publicized call was answered with the shipment of 20 boxes of formula from the U.S. aid group Rahma Worldwide.

Al-Farah said this was enough to meet the needs of 10 babies for two weeks, but warned that in the long run it would be far too little, especially with no guarantee of aid in the future.

"This is not enough at all," he told the AP. "It solved the problem temporarily, but what we need is a permeant solution: Lift the siege."

Many other hospitals reported shortages of formula that had not been answered, such as Al-Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City, which was completely out of stock.

Fortified milk has become increasingly necessary in Gaza due to the increasing number of premature births. In May, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that as a result of widespread hunger, 1 in 5 children is now born pre-term or underweight. That malnutrition has also left many new mothers unable to breastfeed.

Dr. Asaad Nawajha, a pediatric specialist at Nasser Hospital, told Middle East Eye that the blockade has proven catastrophic for the health of both children and their mothers.

"This all goes back to the [harsh] conditions mothers endure amid this vicious war on the Gaza Strip," Nawajha said. "Due to the lack of nutritious items entering the Gaza Strip, both mothers and children have been exposed to illnesses resulting from malnutrition."

The Israeli government's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) has insisted that the amount of aid allowed into Gaza is sufficient to provide for the population.

On June 22, COGAT announced that 430 aid trucks had been allowed to enter the strip during the preceding week. However, this is but a fraction of the more than 600 trucks per day that the United Nations is necessary to meet their needs.

Many people who have come to aid sites administered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), to obtain the meager supplies available, have been met with deadly violence from the Israeli military.

Since May 27, at least 549 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,000 injured by Israeli forces at these sites, according to the U.N. Office for Coordinated Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Gaza Ministry of Health. The Gaza Media Office reports at least 19 fatal incidents at these GHF sites over the span of just one month.

Many of the victims have been children. According to a study released Thursday by the humanitarian group Save the Children, children have been killed at 10 of those 19 incidents.

"No child should be killed searching for food," said Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children's regional director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe. "This is not a humanitarian operation—it’s a death trap."