Survive, nothing more: Cuba’s elderly live hand to mouth

Survive, nothing more: Cuba’s elderly live hand to mouth
Senior citizens receive food at a public food center part of the Family Attention System in Havana, Cuba. (AFP)
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Updated 21 June 2025
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Survive, nothing more: Cuba’s elderly live hand to mouth

Survive, nothing more: Cuba’s elderly live hand to mouth
  • The country is finding it increasingly hard to care for some 2.4 million inhabitants, more than a quarter of the population, aged 60 and over

HAVANA: With a monthly pension barely sufficient to buy 15 eggs or a small bag of rice, Cuba’s elderly struggle to make ends meet in one of Latin America’s poorest and fastest-aging countries.

As the communist island battles its deepest economic crisis in three decades, the state is finding it increasingly hard to care for some 2.4 million inhabitants — more than a quarter of the population — aged 60 and over.

Sixty is the age at which women — for men it’s 65 — qualify for the state pension which starts at 1,528 Cuban pesos per month.

This is less than $13 at the official exchange rate and a mere $4 on the informal street market where most Cubans do their shopping.

“Fight for life, for death is certain,” vendor Isidro Manuet, 73, told AFP sitting on a sidewalk in the heart of Havana, his skin battered by years in the sun, several of his front teeth missing.

“I manage to live, survive, nothing more,” he said of his meager income that allows him to buy a little food, and not much else.

As he spoke to AFP, Manuet looked on as small groups of people walked by his stall carrying bags full of food.

They were coming out of Casalinda, one of several part government-run megastores that sells goods exclusively to holders of US dollars — a small minority of Cubans.

Most rely instead on informal stalls such as the ones Manuet and other elderly Cubans set up on sidewalks every morning to sell fruit, coffee, cigarettes, candy, used clothes and other second-hand goods.

Near Manuet’s stall, 70-year-old Antonia Diez sells clothing and makeup.

“Things are bad, really bad,” she sighs, shaking her head.

Many of Cuba’s elderly have been without family support since 2022, when the biggest migratory exodus in the country’s history began amid a crisis marked by food, fuel and medicine shortages, power blackouts and rampant inflation.

More beggars can be seen on Havana’s streets — though there are no official figures — and every now and then an elderly person can be spotted rummaging through garbage bins for something to eat, or sell.

The Cuban crisis, which Havana blames on decades of US sanctions but analysts say was fueled by government economic mismanagement and tourism tanking under the Covid-19 pandemic, has affected the public purse too, with cuts in welfare spending.

As a result, the government has struggled to buy enough of the staples it has made available for decades to impoverished Cubans at heavily subsidized prices under the “libreta” ration book system.

It is the only way many people have to access affordable staples such as rice, sugar and beans — when there is any.

Diez said she used to receive an occasional state-sponsored food package, “but it’s been a while since they’ve sent anything.”

This all means that many products can only be found at “dollar stores” such as Casalinda, or private markets where most people cannot afford to shop.

According to the University of Havana’s Center for Cuban Economic Studies, in 2023 a Cuban family of three would have needed 12 to 14 times the average minimum monthly salary of 2,100 pesos (around $17) to meet their basic food needs.

Official figures show about 68,000 Cubans over 60 rely on soup kitchens run by the state Family Assistance System for one warm meal per day.

At one such facility, “Las Margaritas,” a plate of food costs about 13 pesos (11 dollar cents). Pensioner Eva Suarez, 78, has been going there daily for 18 months.

“The country is in such need. There’s no food, there’s nothing,” she told AFP, adding her pension is basically worthless “because everything is so expensive.”

Inflation rose by 190 percent between 2018 and 2023, but pensions have not kept pace.

Some are losing faith in communism, brought to the island by Fidel Castro’s revolution, and its unfulfilled promises such as a liter of subsidized milk for every child under seven per day.

“I have nothing, my house is falling apart,” said Lucy Perez, a 72-year-old economist who retired with 1,600 pesos (about 13 dollars) a month after a 36-year career.

“The situation is dire. The nation has no future.”

It’s not just the elderly suffering.

Cuba was rocked by unprecedented anti-government protests in 2021, and students have been rebelling in recent months due to a steep hike in the cost of mobile Internet — which only arrived on the island seven years ago.

In January, the government announced a partial dollarization of the economy that has angered many unable to lay their hands on greenbacks.


Trump presses US central Bank chief to cut rates during tense visit

Trump presses US central Bank chief to cut rates during tense visit
Updated 58 min 45 sec ago
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Trump presses US central Bank chief to cut rates during tense visit

Trump presses US central Bank chief to cut rates during tense visit
  • US president wants borrowing costs lowered
  • White House accuses Fed of mismanaging $2.5 billion building project

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump locked horns with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during a rare presidential visit to the US central bank on Thursday, criticizing the cost of renovating two historical buildings at its headquarters and pressing the case for lower interest rates.

Trump, who called Powell a “numbskull” earlier this week for failing to heed the White House’s demand for a large reduction in borrowing costs, wrapped up his visit to the Fed’s $2.5 billion building project in Washington by saying he did not intend to fire Powell, as he has frequently suggested he would.

“To do so is a big move and I just don’t think it’s necessary,” Trump told reporters after the visit.

In a post on his Truth Social media site, Trump later said of the renovation, “it is what it is and, hopefully, it will be finished ASAP. The cost overruns are substantial but, on the positive side, our Country is doing very well and can afford just about anything.”

The visibly tense interaction at the Fed’s massive construction site marked an escalation of White House pressure on the central bank and Trump’s efforts to get Powell to “do the right thing” on rates.

It happened less than a week before the central bank’s 19 policymakers are due to gather for a two-day rate-setting meeting, where they are widely expected to leave their benchmark interest rate in the 4.25 percent-4.50 percent range.

The president has repeatedly demanded Powell slash rates by 3 percentage points or more.

“I’d love him to lower interest rates,” Trump said as he wrapped up the tour, as Powell stood by, his face expressionless.

 

Powell typically spends the Thursday afternoon before a rate-setting meeting doing back-to-back calls with Fed bank presidents as part of his preparations for the session.

The encounter between the two men became heated as Trump told reporters the project was now estimated to cost $3.1 billion.

“I am not aware of that,” Powell said, shaking his head. Trump handed him a piece of paper, which Powell examined. “You just added in a third building,” the Fed chief said, noting that the Martin Building had been completed five years ago. White House budget director Russell Vought and Trump’s deputy chief of staff, James Blair, who have spearheaded criticism of the renovation as overly costly and ostentatious, later told reporters they still have questions about the project. The two men, who joined Trump during the visit, have suggested poor oversight and potential fraud in connection with it. Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, a Republican who sent Powell a letter on Wednesday demanding answers to his own questions about the renovation, also took part in the visit.

Elevated by Trump to the top Fed job in 2018 and then reappointed by former President Joe Biden four years later, Powell last met with the current president in March when Trump summoned him to the White House to press him to lower rates. The visit on Thursday took place as Trump battles to deflect attention from a political crisis over his administration’s refusal to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, reversing a campaign promise. Epstein died in 2019. The Fed, in letters to Vought and lawmakers backed up by documents posted on its website, said the project — the first full rehab of the two buildings since they were built nearly a century ago — ran into unexpected challenges including toxic materials abatement and higher-than-estimated costs for materials and labor.

Speaking outside of the construction site, Trump said there was “no tension” at his meeting with Powell and that they had a productive conversation about rates.

Fed independence

Ahead of Trump’s visit, Fed staff escorted a small group of reporters around the two construction sites. They wove around cement mixers and construction machines, and spoke over the sound of drills, banging, and saws. Fed staff pointed out security features, including blast-resistant windows, that they said were a significant driver of costs in addition to tariffs and escalations in material and labor costs.

The project started in mid-2022 and is on track to be completed by 2027, with the move-in planned for March of 2028.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press after touring the construction at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, on July 24, 2025. (AFP)

A visit to the roof of the Eccles Building, a point of particular scrutiny by critics like Scott, who has complained about “rooftop garden terraces,” revealed an impressive view of the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall, according to the pool report.

Staff explained that rooftop seating, although inexpensive, had been removed because of the appearance of it being an amenity and was one of only two deviations from the original plan. The other was the scrapping of a couple of planned fountains. Market reaction to Trump’s visit was subdued. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury bonds ticked higher after data showed new jobless claims dropped in the most recent week, signaling a stable labor market not in need of support from a Fed rate cut. The S&P 500 equities index closed largely flat on the day.

Trump’s criticism of Powell and flirtation with firing him have previously upset financial markets and threatened a key underpinning of the global financial system — that central banks are independent and free from political meddling.

His trip contrasts with a handful of other documented presidential visits to the Fed. Then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited the central bank in 1937 to dedicate the newly-built headquarters, one of the two buildings now being renovated. Most recently, former President George W. Bush went there in 2006 to attend the swearing-in of Ben Bernanke as Fed chief. 


Thailand launches airstrikes on Cambodia as border clashes leave at least 14 dead

Thailand launches airstrikes on Cambodia as border clashes leave at least 14 dead
Updated 41 min 18 sec ago
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Thailand launches airstrikes on Cambodia as border clashes leave at least 14 dead

Thailand launches airstrikes on Cambodia as border clashes leave at least 14 dead
  • Fighting took place after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers
  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both sides “to exercise maximum restraint”

SURIN, Thailand: Thai and Cambodian soldiers have clashed along the border between their countries in a major escalation that left at least 14 people dead, mostly civilians. The two sides fired small arms, artillery and rockets, and Thailand also launched airstrikes.

Fighting took place in at least six areas on Thursday, according to Thai Defense Ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri, a day after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers and led Bangkok to withdraw its ambassador from Cambodia and expel Cambodia’s envoy to Thailand.

On Friday, Cambodia’s chief official in Oddar Meanchey province, Gen. Khov Ly, said clashes resumed early in the morning near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple. Associated Press reporters near the border could hear sounds of artillery from early morning hours.

The official also said that at least four civilians were wounded in Thursday’s fighting there and that more than 4,000 people have been displaced from their villages along the border to evacuation centers. It was the first account of any casualties from the Cambodian side.

The escalation represents a rare instance of military conflict between member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation, though Thailand has tangled with Cambodia before over the border and has had sporadic skirmishes with western neighbor Myanmar.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both sides “to exercise maximum restraint and address any issues through dialogue,” according to UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.

Evacuees take shelter in a hall on the grounds of Surindra Rajabhat University, in the Thai border province of Surin on July 24, 2025, amid fighting between Thail and Cambodian forces on July 24, 2025 over a disputed border zone. (AFP)

Each side blames the other

Thailand and Cambodia have blamed each other for the clashes, alleging that civilians were being targeted.

In Bangkok, the Public Health Ministry said a Thai soldier and 13 civilians, including children, were killed while 14 soldiers and 32 other civilians were injured. Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin condemned what he said were the attacks on civilians and a hospital as violations of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.

“We urge the Cambodian government to immediately halt these war criminal actions, and return to respecting the principles of peaceful coexistence,” he said.

Thailand’s Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the fighting affected four provinces. The Interior Ministry was ordered to evacuate people at least 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border.

In Cambodia, several hundred villagers moved from their homes near the border to about 30 kilometers (18 miles) deeper inside Oddar Meanchey province. Many made the journey with entire families and most of their possessions on home-made tractors, before settling down with hammocks and makeshift shelters.

From the encampment near the town of Samrong, a 45-year-old mother of four, Tep Savouen, said it all started about 8 a.m.

“Suddenly I heard a loud noise,” she told the AP. “My son told me it might be thunder and I thought ‘Is it thunder or is it loud, more like a gun?′ At that time I was very scared.”

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said the government was “prepared to intensify our self-defense measures if Cambodia persists in its armed aggression and violations upon Thailand’s sovereignty.”

In the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, Defense Ministry spokesperson Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said his country deployed armed force because “it has no choice but to defend its territory against Thai threats.” The spokesperson insisted the Cambodian “attacks are focused on the military places, not on any other place.”

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet wrote to the UN Security Council asking for an urgent meeting “to stop Thailand’s aggression.” The council scheduled an emergency closed meeting at 3 p.m. in New York on Friday.

Thailand also sealed all land border crossings while urging its citizens to leave Cambodia. Officials said all seven Thai airlines expressed willingness to help bring back any Thai nationals seeking to return home from Cambodia.

A long-standing border problem

The two Southeast Asian neighbors have long had border disputes, which periodically flare along their 800-kilometer (500-mile) frontier and usually result in brief confrontations, only rarely involving the use of weapons. The last major combat over the issue was in 2011, leaving 20 dead.

However, relations sharply deteriorated since a May confrontation killed a Cambodian soldier. Thursday’s clashes were unusually big in intensity.

The first clash on Thursday morning happened near the Ta Muen Thom temple along the border of Thailand’s Surin province and Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey, prompting villagers to scurry to shelter in concrete bunkers.

The Thai army and Cambodia’s Defense Ministry each said the other side deployed drones before advancing on the other’s positions and opening fire. The two sides later used heavier weaponry such as artillery, causing greater damage and casualties, and Thailand said it responded with airstrikes to truck-mounted rockets launched by Cambodia.

Thailand’s air force said it deployed F-16 fighter jets in two attacks on Cambodia. Nikorndej, the Thai spokesperson, called it “an act of self-defense” in response to Cambodian rockets.

Cambodia’s Defense Ministry said the Thai jets dropped bombs on a road near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, which has been a site of past conflicts between the two countries.

Cambodian authorities distributed photos they claimed showed damage caused there, and the country’s Culture Ministry said it would pursue justice under international law, since the temple was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO, the UN’s cultural organization, and is a “historical legacy of the Cambodian people.”

A diplomatic uproar

Relations frayed badly even before the clashes began. On Wednesday, Thailand withdrew its ambassador to Cambodia and expelled the Cambodian ambassador to protest the mine blast that wounded its soldiers.

Thai authorities alleged the mines were newly laid along paths that both sides had agreed were supposed to be safe. They said the mines were Russian-made and not of a type employed by Thailand’s military.

Cambodia rejected Thailand’s account as “baseless accusations,” pointing out that many unexploded mines and other ordnance are a legacy of 20th century wars and unrest.

Cambodia also downgraded diplomatic relations, recalling all Cambodian staff on Thursday from its embassy in Bangkok.

The border dispute has also roiled Thailand’s domestic politics. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra came under fire earlier this month over a phone call with Cambodia’s former Prime Minister Hun Sen, still a power broker in his country, when she tried to defuse the situation. She then was suspended from office on July 1 pending an investigation into possible ethics violations over the matter.

 


80-year-old pro-Palestine protester in UK ‘traumatized’ after arrest

80-year-old pro-Palestine protester in UK ‘traumatized’ after arrest
Updated 25 July 2025
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80-year-old pro-Palestine protester in UK ‘traumatized’ after arrest

80-year-old pro-Palestine protester in UK ‘traumatized’ after arrest
  • Police forcibly entered Marianne Sorrell’s house, seizing iPads, Palestinian flag, books and climate-related material
  • Sorrell held on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action, banned earlier this month under anti-terror laws

LONDON: Marianne Sorrell, an 80-year-old retired teacher from Wells, a city in southwestern England, said that her arrest earlier in July for holding a placard at a pro-Palestine rally has left her feeling “traumatized” and “sick.”

Police officers detained Sorrell for nearly 27 hours on July 12 after forcibly entering her house and seizing 19 items, including iPads, a Palestinian flag, books about Palestine, and materials related to Extinction Rebellion and climate change. She was held on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action, which the UK government banned earlier this month under anti-terrorism laws.

Sorrell told The Guardian newspaper: “At 80, to be treated like a dangerous terrorist is deeply shocking. I’ve been very traumatised by this. Every morning I wake up feeling sick, nauseous. (I have) had to take anti-sickness pills.”

She said a friend of hers, who went to feed her cats while she was in custody, saw a Geiger counter, which measures radiation, on the table while the police were searching the house.

“They’ve actually not taken anything that could be classed as illegal but it’s very confusing that they’re beginning to think anything connected to Palestine or support for Palestine is illegal in some way,” Sorrell said.

She was detained at the end of a one-hour demonstration in Wells by the group Defend Our Juries in support of Palestine. Her friend Trisha Fine, 75, also from Wells and a retired teacher, was arrested and held by the police for nearly 27 hours. At the Cardiff rally, 11 others were arrested. Police questioned Sorrel and Fine about their awareness of Palestine Action’s support for violence and whether they were prepared to engage in it themselves.

The women have been released on bail until October and are prohibited from contacting each other or spending any nights away from their homes.

Fine told The Guardian: “Am I a 75-year-old terrorist? I don’t think so. It’s completely out of order. You just wonder what the hell is happening with this country and this government.”

Sorrell said: “I just feel if I’m put in prison for this, and even if I die in prison for this, I can’t think of a better thing to die for really than for the justice of the people who’ve been persecuted now for almost my lifetime.”

Palestine Action was banned in July after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base at Brize Norton on June 20, causing an estimated £7 million ($9.38 million) of damage to military aircraft.

Membership of or direct support for Palestine Action now carries a prison term of up to 14 years. Displaying the group’s name on clothing could lead to a six-month jail sentence.


Minnesota man sentenced to 59 years for crash that killed 5 young women

Minnesota man sentenced to 59 years for crash that killed 5 young women
Updated 24 July 2025
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Minnesota man sentenced to 59 years for crash that killed 5 young women

Minnesota man sentenced to 59 years for crash that killed 5 young women
  • Derrick Thompson admitted his guilt for the first time and begged for forgiveness at an emotional sentencing hearing
  • Relatives and friends of the victims offered no forgiveness at the hearing

MINNEAPOLIS, USA: A Minnesota man was sentenced to nearly 59 years Thursday for causing a crash that killed five young women who were out making preparations for a friend’s wedding.

Derrick Thompson admitted his guilt for the first time and begged for forgiveness at an emotional sentencing hearing. He said he was sorry for what he did and “there is not a day I don’t ask God why he didn’t take me instead and let your beautiful angels still be here,” the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

But relatives and friends of the victims offered no forgiveness at the hearing. Instead, they attacked Thompson for waiting until his sentencing to admit his crimes and putting their families through two criminal trials.

A state court jury convicted the 29-year-old from the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park of third-degree murder and vehicular homicide for the June 2023 crash that killed Salma Abdikadir, Siham Adam, Sabiriin Ali, Sahra Gesaade and Sagal Hersi. His defense claimed during the trial that Thompson was not the driver of an SUV that ran a red light and plowed into a Honda Civic.

The victims, between 17 and 20 years old, were on their way home from preparations for a friend’s wedding. Their deaths sparked sorrow and outrage in Minnesota’s sizable Somali American community.

“I hope reality suffocates you for the rest of your life,” said Sundus Odhowa, Siham Adam’s older sister. ”You should never know freedom again. You should never know peace.”

Authorities say Thompson was driving a rented Cadillac Escalade SUV at more than 100 mph (160 kph) down a freeway in Minneapolis before exiting, blowing through the red light and smashing into the sedan in which the young women were riding.

Minnesota inmates typically serve two-thirds of their sentences in prison and one-third on supervised release. With credit for 767 days of time already served, Thompson could go free in about 37 years. Thompson, who already had a felony record, was convicted separately in November on federal drug and firearms charges. He’s still awaiting sentencing on those counts.

Thompson is the son of a former Democratic state representative from St. Paul who was sharply critical of police during his one term in office.


British medics say Gaza is ‘televised genocide’ and ‘unlike anything’ seen in war zones

British medics say Gaza is ‘televised genocide’ and ‘unlike anything’ seen in war zones
Updated 24 July 2025
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British medics say Gaza is ‘televised genocide’ and ‘unlike anything’ seen in war zones

British medics say Gaza is ‘televised genocide’ and ‘unlike anything’ seen in war zones
  • Medical volunteers have been working tirelessly despite limited supplies, and have witnessed “very obvious ... malnourishment in the community”
  • Dr. Tom Potokar says he lost 11 kg during his recent trip to Gaza, despite bringing food with him, while his Palestinian medical colleagues appeared increasingly fatalistic

LONDON: British healthcare workers volunteering to treat patients in the Gaza Strip report witnessing harrowing injuries, including severe burns and shrapnel wounds as well as cases of extreme starvation due to Israeli attacks and restrictions on aid.

Sam Sears, a 44-year-old paramedic, told the British tabloid Metro that the range of injuries he has seen at a humanitarian medical tent facility in Al-Mawasi, on the southern coast of Gaza, includes blast injuries, shrapnel wounds, gunshot wounds and polytrauma.

He is volunteering with the UK-Med charity as part of a team responding to starvation in Gaza, following the emergence of distressing images of malnourished Palestinians, including some infants, which have prompted widespread condemnation, including from the UK government.

“It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before,” Sears said.

“Especially like nothing I’ve seen in the UK, and I have worked in other areas like Sierra Leone for Ebola and Ukraine in the war, but this here is completely different. It’s like times ten here.

“We are struggling for food here at the moment, let alone (Palestinian) staff that are working with us who have had to manage this for the last 20 months.”

He said that medical volunteers have been working tirelessly despite limited supplies, including fuel, and it was “very obvious (that) we have got malnourishment in the community.”

“We can buy certain things from the market but it’s very scarce, it’s also costing quadruple or more than what it normally would. A kilogram of sugar at the minute is costing $130, so it’s just extortionate,” he said.

The UK-Med charity operates two field hospitals in Gaza, treating 500 people daily, and includes an operating theater for lifesaving surgical procedures.

“The ceasefire is needed, not just a pause but a permanent end to the hostilities,” Sears said. “The people in Gaza have suffered immensely, they have got nowhere to call home ... They are hungry, malnourished, the conflict needs to stop really.”

“The healthcare and aid needs to come in for the 2.1 million people who it’s needed for here,” he added.

Dr. Tom Potokar, a veteran British plastic surgeon who has volunteered in various Palestinian hospitals and has visited Gaza 16 times since 2018, said that the healthcare system is overwhelmed with severe burn victims from Israel’s military actions.

Dr. Potokar told the Telegraph newspaper that he had been operating on 10 to 12 patients suffering burns from blasts each day, with three-quarters of those cases being women or children. “That’s taking the top-10 priority, but there’s still plenty more behind that that needed operating,” he said.

He volunteered nearly two years ago during the initial six weeks after Israel began its attacks on the Gaza Strip in late 2023. He is the founder of the medical charity Interburns, established in 2006, which addresses the lack of burns expertise in poorer nations and war zones. When he arrived for the first time in Gaza in 2018, he discovered that there were only two fully qualified plastic surgeons, one of whom was partially retired.

His most recent visit, with the Ideals international aid charity, was in May and June, during which he witnessed terrible injuries from explosions.

“I saw many cases of bilateral or triple limb amputations, huge open wounds on the back, on the chest, with the lung exposed. Really horrendous blast injuries from shrapnel, and as I say, a lot of them combined with burns as well,” he said.

The most devastating cases involved children, with some cases sustaining about 90 percent burns.

“There’s nothing you can do. Even if there was not a conflict there, in that country, in that scenario, a 90 percent burn (case) when it’s almost all full thickness is not going to survive,” he said.

“But then you are talking about a nine-year-old and some end-of-life dignity, and unfortunately they don’t die in a couple of hours, it takes four or five days, so you see this patient every four or five days, knowing full well that there’s absolutely nothing you can do.”

Dr. Potokar described treating patients who are “skin and bone” due to Israeli aid restrictions leading to mass starvation in Gaza.

“Wounds are just stagnating because they are just not getting food.”

He said that he lost 11 kg during his recent trip, despite bringing food with him. His Palestinian medical colleagues appeared increasingly fatalistic, he said, as more than 100 human rights organizations warned this week that some staff members have become too weak to continue their work due to food shortages.

Dr. Potokar described Gaza as the “world’s first televised genocide” and said that there was a lack of response to end the war in the coastal enclave.

“We are putting plasters on a haemorrhaging aneurysm. The problem is the political initiative, the total lack of global, moral, ethical insight into this and desire to stop it,” he said.