London - Saba:
British surgeon Graeme Groom, returning from a volunteer mission in the Gaza Strip, said: The children there are "trying to sleep With stomachs full of water and salt, amid a fabricated humanitarian crisis, which he described as barbaric and dwindling, dating back to the Middle Ages.
Groom revealed shocking scenes he witnessed while working as part of a volunteer medical team in Gaza, where Palestinians are suffering from famine and malnutrition, which have caused the deaths of dozens of infants and the deterioration of the condition of wounded civilians.
Groom explained to Anadolu Agency that the increasing hunger directly affects the injured, hindering their recovery, increasing infection rates, and doubling the risk of death.
He stated that hunger is not limited to patients, but also extends to medical staff, noting that "what is happening in Gaza is not a natural famine, but rather a fabricated one."
He noted that on May 27, he visited a malnutrition clinic in Gaza, where a pediatrician informed him that 60 infants had died from starvation since the beginning of the blockade. Some of them were lactose intolerant and there was no special milk available for them.
He added, "12 children are diagnosed with severe malnutrition every day, while some mothers are so hungry they are unable to breastfeed."
He stated that the famine has also affected health workers, citing his colleague, Palestinian anesthesiologist Nizar Abu Daqqa, who told him that his family had nothing to eat.
He continued, "His colleague's six children, ranging in age from two and a half to 13, filled their stomachs with water and licked a little salt to sleep."
He stated that his colleague was able to buy 8 kilograms of flour for $300, which was all he had, and would last them only a few days, after which they would have nothing left.
He said that the children are trying to sleep with stomachs full of water and salt amid widespread hunger and malnutrition, stressing that the humanitarian crisis has reached catastrophic levels.
The British surgeon warned that malnutrition is particularly harmful to children and leaves lasting health and developmental impacts. Groom appealed to world leaders, saying, "What we are witnessing in Gaza is medieval barbarism. The bombing must stop and food must be allowed in."