London – Saba:
British doctor Victoria Rose, who volunteered at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, stated that she witnessed the deaths of 60 Palestinian children in just 23 days due to malnutrition caused by Israel's starvation policy.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency published on Thursday, Dr. Rose said, “The humanitarian and health situation in Gaza is worsening by the minute, with children dying daily from hunger.”
Dr. Rose, a plastic surgeon who was part of a medical mission from the British organizations Islamic Relief and Ideals, recently returned home after working in Gaza's field hospitals.
“When I left Gaza on June 4, the situation was horrific — now it is much worse,” she said. “While I was at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis with my colleague Dr. Graham, 60 children died of malnutrition in just 23 days, and that number keeps rising.”
She explained that delivering food to Gaza has become nearly impossible, with the only remaining source of aid being the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” backed by Israel and the United States. “Every Palestinian knows that going to these distribution points means risking being shot just as much as it means possibly getting food,” she added.
Dr. Rose, who also served medical missions in Gaza last year, described the current crisis as "catastrophic."
“Hunger in Gaza is causing irreparable damage,” she said. “It’s nearly impossible to treat patients—malnutrition weakens the immune system and prevents wounds from healing. We’re trying to treat blast victims with bodies already on the brink of collapse.”
She stressed that there is a severe shortage of medicine, especially antibiotics, making recovery from injuries almost impossible. Most of the injuries she treated were the result of Israeli airstrikes, she added.
Dr. Rose categorized the injuries into three main types:
• Blast wave injuries that rupture eardrums or intestines,
• Severe burns from explosion heat or ensuing fires,
• And lethal shrapnel wounds, acting like bullets, tearing through flesh, breaking bones, and penetrating the chest, brain, or intestines—often fatal.
She also revealed that even foreign medical staff in Gaza suffered from hunger. “We had to bring our own food, limited to a 23-kilogram bag,” she said. “Nasser Hospital used to provide two meals a day for staff, but that support has since stopped. My colleagues had no food and were either forced to buy what little was available at exorbitant prices or risk going to aid distribution points.”
Dr. Rose called on world leaders to take immediate action to address the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. She demanded an end to the role of the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” and the unrestricted entry of aid.
“We need to open many access points into Gaza and deliver large-scale aid—not just food, but clean water, disinfectants, vaccines, and proper child healthcare services,” she said. “We need comprehensive solutions, not scraps thrown here and there.”
According to the latest figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health, 154 Palestinians, including 89 children, have died from famine and malnutrition as of Wednesday.
On May 27, Israel and the United States launched a plan to distribute limited aid outside the supervision of the UN and international organizations. Instead, it is managed by the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” further worsening the crisis. Israeli forces often fire on civilians waiting in line for aid, forcing people to choose between starving or being shot.
Cases of famine and malnutrition continue to flood Gaza's hospitals. Around 900,000 children in Gaza are suffering from hunger, with 70,000 already reaching malnutrition stages.
With U.S. and European support, Israel has been carrying out a genocidal assault on Gaza since October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 60,249 Palestinian civilians, the majority of them women and children, and injuring 147,089 others as of Thursday — with many more still under rubble or stranded in unreachable areas.
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