Children so malnourished they are losing their sight

Israel’s aid blockade has led to at least 9,000 children being admitted for treatment of acute malnutrition since the start of the year, Nedal Hamdouna in Gaza and Bel Trew report

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The skin is drawn so tightly over the tiny bodies of the emaciated babies in Gaza that they appear both hauntingly newborn and old at the same time.

Doctors treating the daily influx of malnourished children starving under Israel's total blockade on aid - say some are so undernourished that they have started to lose their sight.

"The majority of cases are between one month and two years old," says Dr Raed Al-Baba, a gastroenterologist and nutritionist at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza. He helps treat around 100 children brought in daily, mostly because of hunger.

"Many children are stunted, suffering from severe diarrhoea and anaemia... It's leading to rickets, bowed knees, and even the inability to move. They can't see things well or clear as a result of malnutrition," he adds. "I hope our voices will reach the world ...because our children bear no guilt in this war." Israel enforced a full ban on aid entering Gaza three months ago, with its top officials accusing the Hamas militant group of using aid to "feed its war machine", by stealing goods and profiting from them something the militants deny.

The devastating move has led to famine-like conditions for the two million people living there, and at least 9,000 children have been admitted for treatment of acute malnutrition since the start of the year, according to the UN children's agency Unicef.

The Hamas-run government in Gaza says 3,500 of them are now at death's door. On Wednesday, the Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Mustafa, declared Gaza "a famine zone" and called on the entire UN system to immediately activate its mechanisms.