Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Parents are struggling to feed their children in Gaza, with hundreds being admitted to hospital with malnutrition in the past two weeks, health officials and residents told The National on Tuesday.
Their warning come on the same day the UN warned of "catastrophic" food insecurity in the enclave. It said nearly half a million people in Gaza face “catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity” as aid deliveries dwindle and some are prohibited from entering parts of the besieged strip.
The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza said the number of suffering youngsters arriving at the complex was rising.
Hossam Abu Safia said 214 children had been admitted with malnutrition, at least 50 of whom were "advanced" cases.
Six are in critical condition and are receiving treatment in the intensive care unit, he told The National.
“There is a lack of diverse nutritious foods and the only available food is flour. Additionally, there is a shortage of medicines and medical supplies,” Mr Abu Safia said.
The lack of food had left Palestinians in northern Gaza with weakened immune systems and more susceptible to disease, he added.
“We urgently appeal to all countries worldwide to intervene and pressure Israel to open the crossings and allow the entry of essential supplies to Gaza, northern Gaza, and the rest of the region to save what can be saved,” he said.
Food poisoning and disease
The UN issued its report on famine from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, conducted from May 27 to June 4. It said about 495,000 people – 22 per cent of the enclave's population – are experiencing the highest level of starvation, known as IPC Phase 5.
The report said 2.15 million people, or 96 per cent of the population of Gaza, will face high levels of acute food insecurity by September.
The displacement of people to areas of Gaza with less water and limited health services "increases the risk of disease outbreaks, which would have catastrophic effects on the nutritional and health status of large segments of the population", the report said.
Mohammed Salah, a resident of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, told The National his son was poisoned from juice that was distributed to displaced Palestinians.
“Maybe the juice was not stored properly despite being within its expiration date,” said Mr Salah, who is 36 and has six children.
“Other factors could have contributed to the severity of his symptoms, such as the lack of nutrients, iron and vitamins in his body. He was found to have bad anaemia."
Medical sources told The National nearly 60 cases of food poisoning have been reported in northern Gaza due to poor transportation and storage of food items.
Doctors assured Mr Salah many children have come to the hospital daily seeking treatment after experiencing symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness and headaches. This is all due to poor nutrition and the lack of proper living conditions.
“The famine in northern Gaza has reached dangerous levels and things are very difficult. We are almost daily at risk of losing our health,” he said. Many people have lost weight and there is barely any food available, he added.
Struggle to feed children
Mazen Junaid, a 62-year-old from Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, said he spends all his days looking in markets for food to feed his 11 children.
“Everything has been taken from us in this war and we long for what we had during the first days of the famine. Back then, we had some herbs and greens which are known to be beneficial and could sustain us,” Mr Junaid, a former Palestinian Authority employee, told The National.
The market now has only flour and a few canned foods, with no meat, vegetables or fruit available. The available items are extremely expensive for the average Gazan.
“Our stomachs ache from eating canned foods and our bodies are rejecting them because we are not used to this kind of food,” said Mr Junaid.
“People don’t even have money to buy anything due to high prices because their pockets are literally empty. There are no salaries and no one cares about us."
Mr Junaid said his son, Omar, collapsed in the street due to lack of healthy food.
“Everyone, without exception, is suffering from malnutrition due to canned foods,” he said.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Stuck in a job without a pay rise? Here's what to do
Chris Greaves, the managing director of Hays Gulf Region, says those without a pay rise for an extended period must start asking questions – both of themselves and their employer.
“First, are they happy with that or do they want more?” he says. “Job-seeking is a time-consuming, frustrating and long-winded affair so are they prepared to put themselves through that rigmarole? Before they consider that, they must ask their employer what is happening.”
Most employees bring up pay rise queries at their annual performance appraisal and find out what the company has in store for them from a career perspective.
Those with no formal appraisal system, Mr Greaves says, should ask HR or their line manager for an assessment.
“You want to find out how they value your contribution and where your job could go,” he says. “You’ve got to be brave enough to ask some questions and if you don’t like the answers then you have to develop a strategy or change jobs if you are prepared to go through the job-seeking process.”
For those that do reach the salary negotiation with their current employer, Mr Greaves says there is no point in asking for less than 5 per cent.
“However, this can only really have any chance of success if you can identify where you add value to the business (preferably you can put a monetary value on it), or you can point to a sustained contribution above the call of duty or to other achievements you think your employer will value.”
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
MATCH INFO
Serie A
Juventus v Fiorentina, Saturday, 8pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
SUCCESSION%20SEASON%204%20EPISODE%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreated%20by%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJesse%20Armstrong%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Brian%20Cox%2C%20Jeremy%20Strong%2C%20Kieran%20Culkin%2C%20Sarah%20Snook%2C%20Nicholas%20Braun%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
