Palestinians fear escalating suffering after Israel's plan to deepen its Gaza offensive
As the frail newborn shivers in his mother’s arms, Yussuf Al-Najjar’s parents fear he will leave the world as quickly as he arrived in it.
As the frail newborn shivers in his mother’s arms, Yussuf Al-Najjar’s parents fear he will leave the world as quickly as he arrived in it.
“His condition is deteriorating,” Nagia Al-Najjar said of her baby Monday in the intensive care ward at Khan Younis' Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. Born prematurely, Yussuf is now suffering from acute malnutrition, with the family unable to obtain formula or medication as Israel’s blockade of aid and goods reaching Gaza enters its third month.
After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he would give an order to ramp up the military offensive in Gaza with a plan to seize the entire strip, Yussuf’s future is increasingly uncertain. Palestinians and observers fear fresh bombings and displacement, and aid groups warn of a spiraling humanitarian crisis marked by scarce food supplies.
Yussuf is among the 9,000 children in Gaza to have been admitted or treated for acute malnutrition since the war began, with UNICEF saying in March that it had seen a surge in cases. Dr. Ahmed al-Farrah, head of the pediatrics and obstetrics ward at Nasser Hospital, told NBC News last week that more than 50 children had died "from starvation."
“Isn’t it a sin for a child to die like this?” Al-Najjar, 30, told NBC News’ crew on the ground, her face wracked with grief.
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