Chicago-area aid group determined to keep helping Gaza
CHICAGO (CBS) – Some humanitarian aid groups have paused their work in Gaza since the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed 7 aid workers on April 1. However, one Chicago medical nonprofit with a team in Gaza told CBS 2 that it is imperative for them to stay and help.
The World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers were in visibly marked cars and on an approved route to deliver food when they were hit with missiles several times. They were in addition to the 32,000 Palestinians that have been killed since October 7, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
"This is not the time to pull out [of Gaza]" Dr. John Kahler told CBS 2, co-founder of MedGlobal, a Chicago-based NGO that provides emergency response and health programs to areas in disaster. MedGlobal partners with the communities they serve, and has had a team of Palestinians working on the ground in Gaza since 2019. Dr. Kahler is one of many Chicago-area doctors who have traveled to Gaza since October 7.
Pausing aid amid imminent famine
The deadly attack on WCK workers, amidst the ongoing bombardment, comes as the need for aid in Gaza is more dire by the day. A new report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warns that famine is imminent in Northern Gaza, and 1.11 million people, or over half of the population, are facing catastrophic food insecurity. The United Nations (UN) has called it an "entirely man-made disaster."
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, "Palestinians in Gaza are enduring horrifying levels of hunger and suffering" and that it's the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by the Integrated Food Security Classification system – anywhere, anytime."
Ships carrying 240 tons of undelivered aid from WCK have turned back from Gaza since the April 1 strike. Anera, another non-governmental organization that was providing aid to Palestinians, has suspended its work in Gaza.
"I've just talked to my group. I said we need to go in now," he said. Dr. Kahler has led a team team twice into Gaza since October 7. In March, he returned from helping build a Nutrition Stabilization Center in Rafah.
Nutrition Stabilization Center in Rafah
The Nutrition Stabilization Center is a tent with 6 beds next to their Primary Health Center. The MedGlobal team is also stationed between 8 to 10 shelters, which house as many as 15,000 people.
Dr. Kahler emphasized that the proximity is vital because of how congested Gaza has become. He estimated that there are around 56,000 people per square mile in Rafah.
"Oftentimes, kids will have to stay at the center simply because they can't be that you can't travel back and forth. There's no bus system to take you to bring you back for quick follow up," Dr. Kahler said.
That's why they're stationed in the shelters and MedGlobal can treat cases of moderate acute malnutrition on-site.
"The large umbrella is that people are starving. We try to supplement all the kids if we can. Whatever we've got, and they all need something. No question," Dr. Kahler said.
According to the United Nations, 27 children in Gaza have died from malnutrition or dehydration. "This number will grow if a ceasefire doesn't happen immediately and safety is not ensured for a scaled-up aid delivery," Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted to X.
1 in 3 children under 2 years of age are today acutely malnourished in the North, according to UNICEF.
Children who are experiencing severe acute malnutrition and its complications need to be taken under observation at the center.
"If you're at that state, then you really need to go into some type of observation facility, preferably a hospital ward where they're set up to refeed you, rehydrate you, take care of any infections, take care of vitamins and stuff like that. That no longer exists In Gaza," Dr. Kahler said.
Attacks destroyed hospitals
The hospitals that are left in Gaza are only able to partially function in the South.
On April 1, Israel's military ended their two-week-long raid on Al Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza. Video shows that the IDF turned it into complete ruins, reduced it to rubble and killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians. The IDF claimed that they eliminated many Hamas militants and their base.
Even before October 7, 80% of Gaza's population relied on international aid because Israel forced their economy to be dependent on them and put a decades-long blockade on Gaza, according to a UN report. MedGlobal partners with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to feed children fortified biscuits, Plumpy'nut and special formulas.
Plumpy'nut is what its name sounds like: a peanut-based paste that comes in a plastic wrapper. It was the first Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food that has a two year shelf life and doesn't need to be refrigerated. According to the parent company, the food has saved around 23 million lives in 65 different countries from malnutrition.
Nutrition versus calories
Trying to get adequate nutrition is one of the many layers of trying to survive under bombardment in Gaza. "On top of all of this is the psycho-emotional trauma. The single biggest cause of breastfeeding failure is stress," Dr. Kahler said.
"Most of these discussions are around increasing calories, but a lot of those calories come in the form of wheat. You're still malnourished because you don't get the nutrients and the micronutrients and vitamins that you need, and that's extremely important for a pregnant woman to pass along to a fetus," he said.
MedGlobal's next steps
MedGlobal plans to open up another Nutrition Stabilization Center in Northern Gaza, as well as a mental health facility. "Because 100% of people are affected to one level or the other," he said.
But after the killing of WCK aid workers, MedGlobal is not sure if their plans of going to the North will be approved.
"It is sad this [attack on aid workers] will have a major negative impact on the humanitarian situation in Gaza," Palestinian journalist Hind posted on X.
"I can't fix the agency and integrity that's being taken away from this population," Dr. Kahler said.
Most of the institutions are destroyed, and there is nothing but rubble to go back to, he said.
"What would be amazing to anybody who sees Gaza is that civil order continues to hold that and needs to be supported. Their resiliency is something that is just awe-inspiring," Dr. Kahler said.
"They just move me to that level that I will pass off other my responsibilities in the organization, and take this on as much as I possibly can. I've got little time left, and all I can give people is what's in my heart now," he said.
