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A United Nations official confirmed on Friday that "doctors no longer see normal-sized newborns" in Gaza, pointing out that 180 women give birth every day in the devastated Strip while they suffer from hunger and dehydration.

Dominic Allen, head of the Palestinian Territories at the United Nations Population Fund, said in a video press conference from Jerusalem: “Personally, I left Gaza this week and I was filled with fear for a million women and girls in Gaza, and for 650,000 (females) of reproductive age, especially for 180.” "Women give birth every day."

Allen was able to visit hospitals that still provide maternal care services in the northern Gaza Strip, where more than 31,000 people have been martyred since the start of the Israeli attack, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

He added: "Doctors say that they no longer see normal-sized newborns... On the contrary, and in a tragic way, they see a larger number of newborns who die shortly after their birth," speaking of pregnant women who were "exhausted by fear and moving repeatedly (from one place to another)." Hunger and dehydration.

Allen continued, "These mothers should be holding their children in their arms, not in body bags."

nightmare

He also pointed to the lack of anesthesia needed by pregnant women undergoing a cesarean section, denouncing the refusal of the Israeli authorities to allow the passage of aid shipments belonging to the United Nations Population Programme.

He also said: “If I could paint a picture of what I saw, felt and heard during my time in Gaza (I would express) that it is a nightmare bigger than a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis for humanity. (The reality) is worse than I can describe, than the pictures show, than you can imagine.”

He added: “What I saw (during the move to the northern Gaza Strip) broke my heart,” noting “indescribable feelings” in the eyes of residents.

He continued, placing his hands on his mouth: "All those we saw or those we spoke to were emaciated and hungry, and they all made this movement in search of food."

Allen also recounted crossing a military checkpoint, “where a child, perhaps five years old, was walking in fear, raising his hands in the air, while his sister walked behind him, carrying a white flag.”

Source: French