Threats to children of Gaza go far beyond bombs: NGO founder

Arwa Damon, former CNN journalist and founder of INARA, tells Al Jazeera that many dangers to Gaza’s children exist beyond those posed by weapons of war.

“Illnesses that normally would not kill children are at risk of doing so under the conditions that children are now being forced to live in in Gaza, in these overcrowded shelters,” she said.

She said that ailments like diarrhea and the common cold can spiral out of control if untreated, and also pose a threat to other Palestinians in shelters because of the lack of sanitary conditions.

Damon also highlighted the risk of hypothermia.

“What happens when children are as malnourished as the children in Gaza are now today, given that the vast majority of families barely subside on one meal today, is that hypothermia can begin to set in at much warmer temperatures.”

Damon said that in her long career as a journalist in conflict zones and in the humanitarian aid sector, she has “not even seen anything that is comparable” to the rate of child death in Gaza.