A 35-Day-Old Baby Dies of Starvation as Israel Massacres 116 Palestinians in Gaza

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A Palestinian baby has died of starvation in Gaza while Israel continues to block aid supplies and shoot people forced to seek food at controversial aid locations supported by the United States, which are described as 'death traps'.

The baby, identified as Yahya al-Najjar, became the third Palestinian child to die in Gaza within 24 hours of the full-scale starvation imposed by the Israeli regime as a means to escalate the brutality of Tel Aviv's genocidal war in the coastal region.

The 35-day-old baby died of malnutrition at al-Shifa Hospital, director Muhammad Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera. The baby was one of two people who died of starvation at the facility on Saturday.

Journalists worldwide shared poignant images of the victim, showing him lying lifeless in a hospital bed, his body exhibiting clear signs of extreme malnutrition.

'This is Baby Yahya Al-Najjar, and Israeli starvation just killed him in Khan Younis,' wrote Gaza-based journalist Ahmed al-Najjar on his social media account, as reported by Press TV.

'We scream, our kids cry to the world - but no answer,' he added.

'2.3 million people will soon arrive if no food is allowed into the beleaguered and blockaded Gaza Strip!' wrote another journalist reporting from the region, Motasem A Dalloul.

Israel has blocked humanitarian aid since March 2, including baby formula.

The death occurred as the Gaza Health Ministry warned that emergency hospital wards were overwhelmed by the unprecedented number of starving people, with officials stating that 17,000 children in Gaza are suffering from severe malnutrition.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military continued to pound Gaza, with medical sources reporting at least 116 people killed across the enclave since dawn, including 38 who were shot dead while seeking food at locations run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) supported by the United States.

Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the deaths occurred near a location in southwestern Khan Yunis and another in northwestern Rafah, both in southern Gaza, linking the deaths to 'Israeli gunfire'.

The Health Ministry said nearly 900 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and private military contractors near dangerous GHF locations since the foundation began distributing aid at the end of May. GHF has opened four points, replacing around 400 centers run by United Nations agencies and NGOs.

Witness Mohammed al-Khalidi told Al Jazeera that the gunfire directed at aid seekers on Saturday was 'intended to kill'.

'Suddenly, we saw jeeps coming from one side and tanks from the other, and they started shooting at us,' he said.

Another witness, Mohammed al-Barbary, whose cousin was killed in the shooting, said the GHF location is a 'death trap'.

'Anyone can be killed. My cousin was innocent. He went to look for food. He wanted to live. We want to live like anyone else,' al-Barbary said.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Hind Khoudary of Al Jazeera said families hoping to get food were burying their loved ones instead.

GHF denied that the Saturday killings occurred at their location, claiming the incident happened 'several kilometers away' and 'several hours before our location was opened'.

The Israeli military said it is reviewing the incident.

'Open the Gates'

Jagan Chapagain, the secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, warned that Palestinians in Gaza are facing 'acute hunger risks'.

'No one should ever risk their lives to get basic humanitarian aid,' he said.

Basic supplies are not available in markets or distribution points, while the prices of essential items like flour have soared, making it impossible for the 2.3 million residents to meet their daily nutritional needs.

Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), refuted statements made earlier this week by the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas noting 'some positive signs' regarding aid distribution in Gaza.

'For NRC and many others, there has been no aid in for 142 days. Not one truck. Not one shipment,' Egeland wrote on X.

He noted that 85 percent of aid trucks never reached their destination due to looting or other crisis-triggered problems in the hunger crisis in Gaza.

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is banned from operating by Israel in Palestinian territories, including occupied East Jerusalem, said they have 'enough food for the entire population of Gaza' waiting at border crossings in Egypt.

'Open the gates, lift the siege, and let UNRWA do its job,' the organization said on X.

Wave of Attacks

At least 116 Palestinians died in Gaza on Saturday as Israel continued its brutal attacks, bombing refugee tents and homes across the enclave.

Four bodies were found from an Israeli attack in Bani Suheila near southern Khan Younis, a source at Nasser Hospital told Al Jazeera.

At least one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike on a tent housing displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis.

Further north, Israel targeted a residential house in the town of az-Zawayda in central Gaza, killing Nuseirat police chief Colonel Omar Saeed Aql and 11 family members, according to the Interior Ministry.

In Gaza City, three people died in two Israeli airstrikes in the Zeitoun neighborhood, according to a source at al-Ahli Hospital. In the same city, five people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Medical sources said two people died in Israeli shelling of the Jabalia an-Nazla neighborhood in northern Gaza.

Israeli forces also fired on and detained three Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Gaza, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Media Office. The hungry fishermen were trying to catch fish to feed their families.

Israel has maintained a naval blockade on Gaza since 2007, when Hamas took control of the strip, which has been tightened since the start of the war in October 2023.

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