Malnutrition threatens Gaza women and their children

The latest reports of the United Nations Population Fund have shown that about a quarter of a million women and girls in the Gaza Strip are suffering from malnutrition and starvation, including 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women suffering from severe malnutrition.

According to the UN Fund, one in 4 Palestinians in Gaza suffers from hunger. Commenting on these figures, the spokeswoman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cross Associations May Al-Sayegh said that these estimates “reflect the reality on the ground, and include a large number of women, girls and children.

” Al-Sayegh indicated – in her speech to Al-Jazeera – that these numbers came as a result of a two-year conflict, continuous bombardment, and the difficulty of reaching humanitarian aid, especially to northern Gaza.

On the impact of continuing malnutrition, Al-Sayegh said that the health and humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating and severe, as people live in extreme poverty, while humanitarian aid does not meet the minimum needs.

It was also alerted to the spread of diseases due to the lack of water, and the lack of medicines, which leads to more loss of life, especially among pregnant women and children.

Al-Sayegh described the suffering of women as being out of description, as she shared public bathrooms and waited for long hours in order to relieve water and personal hygiene. She also pointed out the suffering of pregnant women who were evacuated from Gaza.

Fruits, meat and dairy. She stressed that the effects will continue for generations “if the aid is not introduced quickly and sufficiently,” noting the privacy of the needs of women and girls in terms of hygiene and basic rights, and called for urgent intervention to avoid the worsening of the crisis.