The director of the children's rights organization Save the Children described in detail the shocking agony of starving children in Gaza, saying they are so physically exhausted that they no longer have the strength to cry.

Addressing the UN Security Council session on Israel's offensive in Gaza, the president of this international humanitarian organization, Inger Ashing, said that hunger—which the UN confirmed last week exists in Gaza—is not just a technical term.

"When there is not enough food, children suffer from acute malnutrition and then die slowly and in pain. That, simply put, is starvation," Ashing said, quoted by RSE.

She then described what happens when children die of starvation, a process she said takes several weeks. The body, Ashing pointed out, first uses its own fat to survive, but when there is no more body fat, the body begins to eat itself, using muscles and vital organs.

"However, in our clinics, it is almost silent. The children do not have the strength to speak or cry out in agony. They lie there, physically exhausted, and slowly die," Ashing said.

She insisted that humanitarian organizations had strongly warned of starvation when Israel stopped the import of food and other essential goods into Gaza during the war.

"Everyone attending this rally has a moral and legal responsibility to act to stop this cruelty," Ashing emphasized.

The UN officially declared famine in Gaza last week, blaming what it called Israel's systematic obstruction of aid during more than 22 months of war.

The organization monitoring the famine, called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), said the famine affects 500,000 people in Gaza City and will spread to about two-thirds of the entire Palestinian territory by the end of September. | BGNES