UN official: There are no longer “normal-sized births” in the Gaza Strip

GAZA – A United Nations official confirmed on Friday that “doctors no longer see normal-sized births” in Gaza, noting that 180 women give birth every day in the devastated Strip while they suffer from hunger and dehydration.

Dominic Allen, head of the Palestinian Territories at the United Nations Population Fund, said in a video press conference from Jerusalem, “Personally, I left Gaza this week and I was afraid for a million women and girls in Gaza, for the 650,000 (females) of reproductive age, and especially for the 180 women.” “They give birth every day.”

He added, “Doctors say that they no longer see normal-sized newborns (…) On the contrary, and in a tragic way, they see a larger number of newborns who die shortly after their birth,” speaking of pregnant women “exhausted by fear, moving repeatedly (from one place to another), and hunger.” And dehydration.

He continued, “These mothers should hold their children in their arms, not in body bags.”

He also pointed out the lack of anesthesia needed by pregnant women undergoing a cesarean section, denouncing the refusal of the Israeli authorities to allow the passage of aid shipments belonging to the United Nations Population Programme.

He also said, “If I could draw a picture of what I saw, felt, and heard during my time in Gaza (…) it is a nightmare bigger than a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis for humanity. (The reality) is worse than I can describe, what the pictures show, what you can imagine.”

He continued, placing his hands on his mouth, “Everyone we saw or spoke to was emaciated and hungry, and they all made this movement in search of food.”

Allen also recounted crossing a military checkpoint, “where a child, perhaps five years old, was walking in fear, raising his hands in the air, while his sister walked behind him, carrying a white flag.”

Israel is waging a war on Gaza that has left massive destruction and at least 31,490 dead, most of them civilians, women and children, according to the latest toll from the Ministry of Health in Gaza on Friday.

Source: “AFP”