A medical source reported that Zainab Abu Haleeb, a few months old, died as a result of malnutrition resulting from Israel's ongoing starvation policy.
In a horrific photo taken of the little girl shortly before her death, her skin was stuck to her bones, and her thin rib cage was painfully exposed.
On the back was an earlier photo of her smiling in bright clothes with the words "Queen Zeinab" written on it, a human contradiction that summed up the tragic transformation from childhood to emaciation and then death.
Deaths are frequent in Gaza, particularly among infants, due to the ongoing Israeli blockade and the denial of humanitarian and food aid, leading to widespread hunger and food and medicine shortages.
On Friday, the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Munir al-Barsh, said that nine Palestinians, including two children, had died in just 24 hours due to hunger and malnutrition, bringing the death toll since the war began on October 7, 2023, to 122, including 83 children.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Health reported 26,677 cases of malnutrition, while indicating that more than 260,000 children under the age of five are in need of food.
UN organizations and local institutions warn that the continued blockade and denial of aid threaten to lead to mass child deaths, amid deteriorating health and living conditions and the complete collapse of the medical system.
Last Sunday, the government media office in Gaza warned that the Strip was on the verge of "mass death," after more than 140 days of closed crossings.
Since March 2, Israel has evaded further implementation of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, closing Gaza's crossings to aid trucks stacked along the border.
Israel has been besieging Gaza for 18 years, leaving approximately 1.5 million Palestinians out of a population of approximately 2.4 million in the Strip homeless after their homes were destroyed in the war of extermination.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a genocidal war in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The US-backed genocide left more than 203,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that claimed the lives of many.
