Dehydration, malnutrition kill 15 children in northern Gaza hospital

Gaza City, Palestine - At least 15 children died from dehydration and malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said on Sunday.

“15 children died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration in Kamal Adwan Hospital,” ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-qudra said in a statement.

“We fear for the lives of six children suffering from malnutrition and dehydration in intensive care at Kamal Adwan Hospital, as a result of the cessation of the electric generator and oxygen machines,” Qudra added.

On February 19, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that the sharp rise in malnutrition among children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers in the Gaza Strip poses a ‘serious threat’ to their health, particularly given the Israeli forces’ ongoing attacks on the enclave.

Israel has put 31 hospitals in Gaza out of service through bombing, destruction, and deprivation of medical supplies and fuel, and has partially targeted 152 health facilities, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza.

14 killed in bombing of Rafah

At least 14 Palestinians, including six children, were killed on Sunday in an Israeli bombing that targeted a house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

“In a devastating airstrike carried out by Israeli warplanes last night, a three-story house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip was targeted, resulting in the killing of dozens of civilians, including six children. Many are still trapped under the rubble,” the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The agency added that 14 Palestinians were killed in the airstrike which targeted ‘the Abu Anza family house in the AlSalam neighbourhood east of

Rafah, with dozens more wounded and many still missing’.

“The attack also caused extensive damage to the surrounding area,” it added.

More than 1.4mn Palestinians displaced by Israel’s offensive on Gaza are holed up in Rafah, seeking refuge from hostilities. Israel’s reported plans for an offensive on the city have sounded international alarm bells, with many countries urging restraint or cancelation of the operation.

In Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli forces ‘executed intense bombings from the air and artillery north of the

city’, the agency also reported.

“This assault coincided with the advancement of Israeli military vehicles towards Hamad City neighbourhood, located north of the province, targeting homes with shells and gunfire,” it added.

In the northern and central Gaza Strip, an airstrike targeted a

home in the centre of Jabalia refugee camp, leading to several civilians killed and injured.

“A group of civilians in the AlNuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip were targeted, resulting in multiple injuries,” the agency added.