GAZA,(Palestine Foundation Information Center ) The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced on Thursday that systematic Israeli starvation policies have led to the death of eight patients suffering from Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).
Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director-General of the Ministry, explained that “amid the famine declared by the United Nations, cases of GBS have significantly increased in recent weeks. Dozens of patients now rely on ventilators to stay alive.”
“Eight deaths from GBS have been recorded, representing 10.6% of known cases in the Gaza Strip. The remaining patients face the risk of dying slowly and silently,” he said.
“Contaminated water, lack of food, and malnutrition caused by Israel’s starvation policy, in addition to the absence of essential treatments like intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and plasmapheresis, have led to worsening cases. Many now require artificial respiration to survive.”
Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a rare disease that typically begins with weakness in the lower limbs and can progress to affect the central nervous system, including the nerves responsible for breathing.
These developments come as part of an ongoing Israeli starvation campaign and widespread malnutrition among Gaza’s children, which is weakening immune systems and increasing vulnerability to rare diseases, unfolding under what is widely seen as an active genocide against Palestinians.
“In Gaza, disease no longer chooses its victims, this land has become a fertile ground for suffering,” Dr. Al-Bursh lamented.
“Contaminated water, scarce food, and malnutrition have become invisible enemies, preceding the missiles and quietly claiming lives.”
He issued an urgent humanitarian appeal, “Saving the lives of these patients cannot be achieved with statements alone, it requires the immediate entry of life-saving treatment and prevention of more deaths to be added to the growing toll of famine and bombing.”
Gaza’s hospitals are facing severe shortages of medicine and medical supplies, with near-total collapse of diagnostic and treatment capacities.
Since March 2, Israel has closed all border crossings into Gaza, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid, effectively plunging the territory into famine. This, despite the fact that hundreds of aid trucks are stalled at the borders, Israel only allows in a small trickle, far below the minimum needs of the population.
On Wednesday, the Gaza Health Ministry announced that 313 Palestinians, including 119 children, have died from starvation-related causes since October 7, 2023.
According to the Gaza Government Media Office on Tuesday, only 2,654 aid trucks entered Gaza in the past 30 days, out of the 18,000 trucks that should have arrived during that period, highlighting the catastrophic shortfall.
