https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gaza-starvation-doctor-israel-palestinians_n_6886aff0e4b04be5e46823d6Past 'The Point Of No Return': Doctor Gives On-The-Ground Insight Into Starvation In Gaza"In August and September, there are probably still going to be ... large numbers of deaths because children have already passed the tipping point," Mark Brauner, who volunteered in Gaza last month, told HuffPost.
Mass starvation now defines life in the Gaza Strip for 2.1 million Palestinians.Despite allowing in some additional food in response to global outrage, Israel is continuing policies that have produced widespread hunger, with U.S. support while experts say that regardless of what else may change, thousands of preventable deaths are imminent because of how seriously Palestinians' conditions have deteriorated. Over the coming days and months, the toll of the already-bloody war which has killed at least 60,000 Palestinians is likely to skyrocket.
"Malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory," the
World Health Organization warned Sunday on social media, noting the crisis is likely underestimated because many families cannot safely reach
what's left of Gaza's health facilities to be diagnosed and treated. More than 100 aid organisations and human rights groups warned on Wednesday that "mass starvation" was spreading in Gaza.
As Brauner worked, he heard explosions nearly every 10 minutes in the vicinity of the hospital, sometimes making his teeth shake, but was "buoyed" by the work ethic of Palestinian medical staff.
A month after his return, given his training and the level of desperation he saw on the ground, Brauner feels "the tipping point has already occurred" for unprecedented death by starvation in Gaza.
"The tipping point has already occurred, unfortunately, for a large number of children and infants and toddlers and adolescents these are definable age categories where the level of starvation and malnutrition has passed the tipping point, where July already saw a large escalation in the number of deaths but August is going to be significantly higher because a lot of the children have already passed the point of no return where their physiology has eroded to the point where even refeeding could potentially cause death itself. The gut lining has started to auto-digest and it will no longer have adequate absorptive capacity for water or for nutrition. Death is unfortunately imminent for probably thousands of children."
