Shocking images from Gaza show the devastating effect severe malnutrition is having on those trapped in the war-torn enclave as a young starving man appears to be mere skin and bones in latest tragic photos.
A series of pictures of 21-year-old Ahmed Al-Najjar have emerged from Gaza as the Palestinian territory continues to be battered by Israeli raids.
The haunting images show the young man laying on what appears to be a bed constructed of wooden planks, a single pillow, and a thin mattress wrapped in a sheet.
In one photo, Ahmed can be seen shirtless while attempting to support his body to hold a raised position using his arms – but his skin is sucked into the hollow space between his bones.
His rib cage appears incredibly prominent, his jaw sharply defined as his skin hangs onto his bones – a heartbreaking symptom of the malnutrition and brain atrophy he suffers from.
Images of Ahmed Al-Najjar, 21, have emerged from Gaza. The young man is suffering from malnutrition and brain atrophy
Haunting images of his legs show his thin skin clinging on to his bones with no fat or muscle visible to the eye
In a third photo, Ahmed is seen drinking what appears to be milk from a bottle as he gazes off into the distance
Another chilling image shows a close up of Ahmed’s legs which seem to be too weak to support his body if he were to try to stand.
His thighs, knees, shins, and feet are mere bones wrapped in a thin layer of skin with not a single inch of muscle or fat visible to the eye.
Ahmed’s toes appear to be deformed as they curl forward and bend in different directions – a sign he may never walk again.
In a third and final photo released of the young man, he could be seen drinking from a small bottle of what seems to be milk.
His long, thin fingers are wrapped around a small handle as his other hand rests on his stomach while he drinks.
Ahmed’s red ‘sport’ t-shirt emblazoned with a cartoon photo of a teddy bear and football hangs off his body as the arm holes gape around his tiny upper arms.
He can be seen gazing off into the distance as he drinks the white liquid, holding up the plastic bottle while he lays supine.
But Ahmed is just one of thousands of Palestinians suffering with malnutrition due to Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said more than 50,000 children in the Gaza Strip require immediate medical treatment for acute malnutrition.
In a statement last month, the agency noted ‘with continued restrictions to humanitarian access, people in Gaza continue to face desperate levels of hunger.
‘UNRWA teams work tirelessly to reach families with aid, but the situation is catastrophic’.
UNICEF had a mission to drive a truck full of nutritional and medical supplies for 10,000 children, spokesperson James Elder said in June.
Their task was to deliver the aid, which was pre-approved by Israeli authorities, from Deir el-Balah to Gaza City.
‘It took 13 hours and we spent eight of those around checkpoints, arguing around paperwork – ‘was it a truck or a van’,’ Elder said.
‘The reality is this truck was denied access. Those 10,000 children did not get that aid … Israel as the occupying power has the legal responsibility to facilitate that aid.’
The United Nation’s World Food Programme Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau also added: ‘The situation in southern Gaza is quickly deteriorating. One million people in southern Gaza are trapped without clean water or sanitation in a highly congested area along the beach in the burning summer heat’.
The stark show of the effect of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza through Ahmed’s photographs come as seven people were killed during an Israeli military operation in the area of the West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian authorities said on Friday.
The Israeli military said it had been carrying out ‘counter-terrorism activity’ that included an air strike.
The military said Israeli soldiers had ‘encircled a building where terrorists have barricaded themselves in’ and the soldiers were exchanging fire, while an air strike had ‘struck several armed terrorists’ in the area.
The Palestinian health ministry said a total of seven people had been killed, but did not specify whether they died in the exchange of fire or the airstrike.
Search and rescue operations continue after at least seven Palestinians were killed on Israeli raid on the Jenin Refugee Camp in Gaza Strip on July 5 , 2024
A Palestinian is seen searching through the smoking rubble of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli raid on Friday
The Palestinian health ministry said a total of seven people had been killed, but did not specify whether they died in the exchange of fire or the airstrike
The Israeli military said it had been carrying out ‘counter-terrorism activity’ that included an air strike
The Islamic Jihad militant group named four of the dead as its members.
The clashes in Jenin, a known militant stronghold where the army frequently operates, came a day after an Israeli anti-settlement monitoring group said the government plans to build nearly 5,300 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The construction plans revealed by the Peace Now group are part of the hard-line government’s efforts to beef up settlements as part of a strategy of cementing Israel’s control over the West Bank to prevent a future Palestinian state.
The Palestinians seek the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza – areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war – for an independent state.
Violence has spiralled in the West Bank since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, sparked by the October 7 raid into southern Israel by Hamas militants who killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 others as hostages.
The war has so far killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s health ministry says.
Ceasefire talks appeared to be reviving after stalling for weeks while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he was sending negotiators to resume the talks, a day after Hamas handed mediators its latest response to a US-backed proposal for a deal.
The revival of negotiations appeared to mark another attempt by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators to overcome the gap that has repeatedly thwarted a deal over the past months.
Hamas wants an agreement that ensures Israeli troops fully leave Gaza and the war ends, while Mr Netanyahu says the war cannot end before Hamas is eliminated.
Israeli negotiators are expected to arrive in Doha, Qatar’s capital, for the talks as early as Friday, with American, Egyptian and Qatari officials present.