Malnourished Palestinian woman, 20, evacuated from Gaza dies in Italian hospital as calls grow to take action against ‘famine unfolding in front of our eyes’

A 20-year-old Palestinian woman suffering from severe malnutrition who was evacuated from Gaza to Italy has died, a hospital in Pisa has said.

The woman, named by Italian media as Marah Abu Zuhri, was described by doctors as being ‘in a profound state of organic wasting,’ when she arrived in the city on Wednesday night.

The tragedy comes as calls grow to take action against ‘famine unfolding in front of our eyes’ amid an escalating war of words over who is to blame for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 

UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine in the territory and claim scores of Palestinians have been shot while trying to claim aid near distribution sites.

But Israel insists that the besieged strip is not facing starvation and says Hamas is responsible for the looting of aid.

The UK, EU, Australia, Canada, and Japan on Tuesday issued a statement saying ‘famine is unfolding in front of our eyes’ and urged action to ‘reverse starvation’.

They demanded ‘immediate, permanent and concrete steps’ to facilitate the entry of aid to Gaza.

Zuhri was admitted to Pisa University Hospital late Wednesday and died on Friday.

She was removed from the Gaza Strip as part of a humanitarian mission and arrived with a ‘with a very complex, compromised clinical picture,’ according to the hospital.

Zuhri died after entering a respiratory crisis and subsequently going into cardiac arrest, it said in a statement.

Hospital staff had performed tests and started supportive therapy before she died, the statement added.

 Zuhri had arrived in Italy with her mother on one of three Italian air force flights that landed this week with critical patients suffering from serious congenital diseases, wounds or amputations, the Italian foreign ministry said at the time.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said almost 120 Gazans – 31 patients and their families – had been flown to Rome, Milan, and Pisa on three planes.

In a post on X, Tajani said that it was the 14th medical evacuation of Palestinians that Italy had conducted since January 2024, and the largest.

The hospital did not specify whether the woman had suffered from malnutrition, but said that she had arrived in a ‘state of severe physical deterioration.’

Eugenio Giani, leader of the Tuscan region, expressed his condolences Saturday for the woman’s death.

Earlier in the week, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza were at their highest levels since the Israel-Hamas war began.

The U.N. says nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found to have acute malnutrition in July – including more than 2,500 with severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organization says the numbers are likely an undercount.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month no one in Gaza is starving.

‘There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza,’ he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump responded to Netanyahu’s claim by noting the images emerging of emaciated people.

‘I don’t know,’ Trump said when asked if he agreed with the Israeli leader’s comment. ‘I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly because those children look very hungry.’

Over the past two weeks, Israel has allowed around triple the amount of food into Gaza than what had been entering since late May.

That was after 2.5 months when Israel barred all food, medicine and other supplies, saying it was to pressure Hamas to release hostages taken during its October 2023 attack that launched the war.

But, just days ago, distressing new photos of two skeletal-looking Palestinian children emerged amid the continued war of words.

So far, 212 people, including 98 children, have reportedly died of malnutrition according to unconfirmed figures by the Hamas-run health ministry.

The latest harrowing images to come out of the Gaza strip appear to show a severely emaciated two-year-old crying out as he is treated in hospital.

Little Sham Kadih, who appears to be suffering from malnutrition, was pictured weeping as he is tended to at Nasser Hospital on August 10.

It comes amid an on-going shortage of baby formula and medicine, which has reportedly left scores of children on the brink of starvation.

Another image purports to show three-year-old Palestinian boy Edhem Mohammed Abu Urmana being fed just water instead of baby formula.

The youngster, who appears gaunt and thin, was forced to flee his home alongside his family amid the on-going bombing campaign by Israel.

Now staying inside a tent at the Nuseirat refugee camp, Edhem is reportedly suffering from malnutrition.

On Friday the UN warned that at least 1,760 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May – a jump of several hundred since its last published figure at the beginning of August.

‘Since 27 May, and as of 13 August, we have recorded that at least 1,760 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid; 994 in the vicinity of GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) sites and 766 along the routes of supply convoys.

‘Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military,’ the agency’s office for the Palestinian territories said in a statement.

That compares with a figure of 1,373 killed the office reported on August 1.

The update came as Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 38 people were killed by Israeli fire on Friday, including 12 who were waiting for humanitarian aid.

The Israeli military said its troops were working to ‘dismantle Hamas military capabilities’, adding its forces were taking precautions ‘to mitigate civilian harm’