UNITED States vice president Kamala Harris has called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and urged Israel to “significantly increase the flow of aid” there.
It comes as news outlet Al Jazeera reports that medical sources have confirmed the number of Palestinian children who died as a result of malnutrition and inadequate medical care had increased to 16.
On Sunday, the out-of-service Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip said that 15 children had died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration, and that there were six other children in intensive care.
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Most of Gaza’s hospitals have either been shut down or crippled in the wake of more than five months of Israeli attacks.
Harris said that “there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks”.
Pressure for a ceasefire deal intensified following an attack last Thursday outside Gaza City where at least 112 people were killed when crowds gathering at an aid convoy saw Israeli troops open fire.
Speaking in Alabama, Harris said: “What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.
“As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
The vice president stressed that “our common humanity compels us to act,” and reiterated Joe Biden’s commitment “to urgently get more life-saving assistance to innocent Palestinians in need”.
Meanwhile, Unicef has warned many more children in Gaza will dye of dehydration and malnutrition unless there is direct intervention.
“Now, the child deaths we feared are here and are likely to rapidly increase unless the war ends and obstacles to humanitarian relief are immediately resolved,” said Unicef’s Adele Khodr.
Harris also added that “the Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid” and that there were “no excuses” for not doing so.
Israel did not attend earlier truce talks in Egypt, saying Hamas was not giving a list of hostages who were still alive.
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Hamas told the BBC it was unable to do so because of the Israeli bombing.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a large-scale air and ground campaign.
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