EVERYONE Mahmoud Shalabi knows in Gaza has lost weight.

“The average weight loss ranges between 10 to 15 kilograms,” the senior programme manager for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said.

“Unfortunately, some have exceeded 20 or even 30.”

A quarter of the population in Gaza is starving. Aid groups say it is nearly impossible to deliver aid in much of the territory because of Israeli restrictions and ongoing hostilities.

Up to 300,000 Palestinians are believed to have remained in northern Gaza – where conditions are especially dire – with many reduced to eating animal feed. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry reported the deaths of 18 children due to malnutrition and dehydration across the territory last week.

Mahmoud (below) said that what little aid is entering Gaza right now is “depriving the Palestinian people of their dignity”.

He described the meals air dropped by the likes of the United States and the UK in recent weeks.

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“According to eyewitnesses and some of my neighbours, they only contain food parcels that last a couple of days for two to three people,” he said.

“Some of them even contain meals that need microwaving and we don't have electricity right now.”

MAP is one of very few aid organisations still operating and one of the only ones in northern Gaza.

The work of its employees – including Mahmoud – is delivering life saving aid including helping to deliver medical supplies to Al-Shifa Hospital. This includes disposables, clean bed linen and equipment to help engineers carry out vital maintenance on the hospital's sewage system.

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The largest hospital in Gaza, it came under Israeli military attack in November 2023 and it is vital it remains operational.

Starvation isn’t the only danger in Gaza.

Gaza’s 12 partially functioning hospitals are being bombarded, and crucial equipment damaged beyond repair at their greatest time of need.

In Gaza’s collapsing health system – where only 17% of primary healthcare centres are still operational – injured children are being operated on without anaesthetic or pain killers. Deaths are slow, painful and too often preventable.

The WHO has previously warned that disease could kill more Palestinians than bombs as disease and infection spreads in densely populated areas like Rafah, where 1.5 million people are taking refuge.

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MAP’s Gaza team are also helping to fight the transmission of disease and infection in Gaza – where than 300,000 have acute respiratory infections and 200,000 have cases of acute watery diarrhoea.

They are also providing support to people driven from their homes. They are providing hygiene and dignity kits to families, including essential items like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, nappies and other items. This all allows for some dignity during displacement.

This is all as they face incredible danger themselves.

Since October 7, at least 340 healthcare workers have been killed while more than 160 others have been detained, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

The least their bravery deserves is the medication and equipment they need to do their job.

Donate to The National’s fundraising campaign with Medical Aid for Palestinians by clicking the banner below.

Your donations will go towards life saving medication and equipment:

  • £25 for around 25 antibiotic injections used to treat respiratory tract infections and intra-abdominal infections.
  • £500 could buy 500 vials of intravenous paracetamol used for pain relief.
  • £1000 could buy 3000 oxygen connecting tubes, delivering oxygen from an oxygen tank to a patient’s respiratory tube through a nasal cannula or face mask, ensuring patients receive a continuous and controlled supply of oxygen.
  • £2500 could buy an ECG monitor, which records the electrical activity of the heart and providing crucial information about heart rate, rhythm, and potential abnormalities to help diagnose and monitor cardiac conditions.