Children bear the brunt of all disasters, even Gaza

Every year when the sun sets during Ramadan, Muslims break the daytime fast with a date − just as the Prophet Mohammed did.

But this Ramadan in Gaza, where lack of food is forcing families to eat leaves and animal food to survive, there will be no dates to break the fast. Date harvesting, along with other food production, has been completely decimated.

As part of their restrictions on aid crossing into Gaza, the Israeli authorities are reportedly classifying dates as “dual-use” items and blocking them due to X-ray imaging picking up their seeds as suspicious objects.

Of course, dates are not the only food Palestinians in Gaza are lacking. After five months of war, there is barely any food at all.

One of the rulings from the International Court of Justice

At least 23 children have died due to malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, according to official reports

(ICJ) was that Israel allow safe, unfettered humanitarian aid access. But according to UN data, the daily average number of aid trucks entering Gaza dropped by more than a third in the weeks following provisional measures by the ICJ.

Children bear the brunt of all disasters: war, earthquakes, climate change. At least 23 children in Gaza have now died due to malnutrition and dehydration, according to Ministry of Health reports. This figure is climbing, and only reflects those who have made it to Gaza’s barely functioning health facilities.

Data collected by the Global Nutrition Cluster showed that between December and January, 90pc of children under the age of two were in severe food poverty, having eaten two or less food groups in 24 hours. Again, this is the tip of the iceberg.

All efforts to provide more aid into Gaza are welcome. But air drops of aid or maritime initiatives are not the solutions needed to keep children alive. The withholding of food during Ramadan is only supposed to be in daylight hours. It is peace that is meant to last. This Ramadan in Gaza, things are the wrong way around.