Palestinian doctors warn starving Gaza children could die ‘not in weeks but days’

“You know what’s happened in North Gaza? What I have witnessed is beyond alarming,” said Soboh, who serves as the nutrition officer in Gaza for MedGlobal, a US-based humanitarian organization active in the Palestinian enclave.
“Some of the children we see are so weak that they cannot walk, laugh, play, sit, or even cry. They come with infection, diarrhea, skin conditions, severe dehydration, and other complications, and often we have nowhere to refer them. The few health facilities left are overwhelmed, destroyed, or without supplies.”
Soboh stressed that treating children with severe acute malnutrition is a medical emergency requiring specialized therapeutic feeding, therapeutic milk, micronutrients, antibiotics, and close monitoring.
“Without these, they could die, not in weeks actually, but in days,” she said, urging “immediate, safe, sustainable humanitarian access to North Gaza” and the delivery of therapeutic food and milk without delay.
Children injured, untreated
Dr. Majed Jaber, a medical doctor from Gaza, also spoke at the briefing, recounting the case of a child who suffered brain anoxia — oxygen deprivation — after inhaling tear gas fired by soldiers at a US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site. “Three-quarters of his brain is just dead, and he’s essentially paralyzed,” Jaber said.
He also described treating three teenagers with gunshot wounds earlier this week, one of whom died after a cardiac arrest due to a lack of essential medication. “We don’t even have Tylenol, hypertension medications, or the simplest antibiotics,” Jaber said.
“We have to argue and convince ourselves why this patient deserves one remaining vial of a drug … Imagine being forced to decide who gets simple pain relief and who doesn’t.”
Nixon, who moderated the panel, called the situation “a crisis of conscience” that demands urgent global attention and action.