Dr. Rana Soboh calls for 'immediate, safe, sustainable humanitarian access to North Gaza'
A Palestinian doctor in Gaza warned on Friday that without urgent intervention providing therapeutic food and medication, children facing starvation in the besieged territory could die “not in weeks, actually, but in days.”
Speaking during a virtual briefing moderated by American actor and activist Cynthia Nixon on starvation in Gaza, attacks on health care, and detention of Palestinian medical personnel, Dr. Rana Soboh described an “alarming” surge in severe acute malnutrition among children under five, particularly in the north.
“You know what's happened in North Gaza? What I have witnessed is beyond alarming,” said Soboh, who serves as the nutrition officer in Gaza for MedGlobal, a US-based humanitarian organization active in the Palestinian enclave.
“Some of the children we see are so weak that they cannot walk, laugh, play, sit, or even cry. They come with infection, diarrhea, skin conditions, severe dehydration, and other complications, and often we have nowhere to refer them. The few health facilities left are overwhelmed, destroyed, or without supplies.”
Soboh stressed that treating children with severe acute malnutrition is a medical emergency requiring specialized therapeutic feeding, therapeutic milk, micronutrients, antibiotics, and close monitoring.
“Without these, they could die, not in weeks actually, but in days,” she said, urging “immediate, safe, sustainable humanitarian access to North Gaza” and the delivery of therapeutic food and milk without delay.
- Children injured, untreated
Dr. Majed Jaber, a medical doctor from Gaza, also spoke at the briefing, recounting the case of a child who suffered brain anoxia — oxygen deprivation — after inhaling tear gas fired by soldiers at a US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site. “Three-quarters of his brain is just dead, and he’s essentially paralyzed,” Jaber said.
He also described treating three teenagers with gunshot wounds earlier this week, one of whom died after a cardiac arrest due to a lack of essential medication. “We don’t even have Tylenol, hypertension medications, or the simplest antibiotics,” Jaber said.
“We have to argue and convince ourselves why this patient deserves one remaining vial of a drug ... Imagine being forced to decide who gets simple pain relief and who doesn’t.”
Nixon, who moderated the panel, called the situation “a crisis of conscience” that demands urgent global attention and action.
- Targeting of healthcare workers
Dr. Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian-American physician and MedGlobal board member who has made multiple relief trips to Gaza, expressed concern over the targeting and detention of healthcare professionals, noting that nearly every hospital director in northern Gaza has been “killed or abducted.”
“It’s clear that there is a deliberate effort to destroy any opportunity to save lives in the Gaza Strip,” Ahmad said, naming Dr. Hassan Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, who has been detained by Israel since late December.
Despite the fighter jets, tanks, and ground troops expanding their invasion, healthcare workers still show up to work hungry and desperate to help, he added.
Lina Qassem-Hassan, a chairperson of Physicians for Human Rights Israel’s (PHRI) Board of Directors, provided details on the detention of Abu Safiya, citing his lawyer’s account that he had lost 40 kilograms (88 pounds) in prison, was severely beaten in June, and is being held in starvation, torture, and isolation and without medical care despite an irregular heartbeat.
“We are talking about more than 300 doctors, nurses, and paramedics arrested in total,” Qassem-Hassan said, noting that over 100 remain in detention, including 25 physicians, more than 50 nurses, and 30 paramedics — none charged with a crime. Four medical workers have died in Israeli custody, with their bodies still withheld, she added.
She described testimonies of Palestinian healthcare workers detailing “ritualized abuse” during detention, including systematic beatings known as “the welcoming,” sleep deprivation, sensory torture in rooms called “the disco” with blinding lights and deafening music, starvation, denial of medical care, and physical, mental, and sexual violence.
Qassem-Hassan urged the international medical community, journalists, and human rights defenders to expose and investigate abuses committed by the Israeli government and demand the release of detained medical personnel.
“The earlier the intervention in malnutrition, the better the chances of mitigating long-term impacts,” Qassem-Hassan said, warning that without action, the death toll among Gaza’s children and medical community will continue to rise.
Israel has been facing mounting outrage over its destructive war on Gaza, where more than 61,200 people have been killed since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
