In the city of Khan Younis, situated within the embattled Gaza Strip, a young child finds himself in distress. At only nine months old, Khaled is afflicted by persistent diarrhea, having endured this condition for half of his short life. Severely dehydrated and frail, Khaled relies on a tube inserted in his small hand to receive essential liquid nutrition.
Despite being nearly a year old, Khaled weighs a mere 11 pounds (5 kilograms), about half of what is considered healthy for a baby his age. At the main pediatric ward in Gaza, where doctors are dedicated to his recovery, his mother, Wedad Abdelaal, anxiously supervises his care. After multiple critical visits, Khaled was hospitalized last weekend, receiving tube feeding followed by nutritional supplements and bottled milk at intervals. However, his mother is worried this plan isn’t enough.
“The shortages are ruining us,” she claims, expressing her desire for more frequent feedings. Yet, the scarcity of supplies at the hospital presents a significant challenge. Abdelaal feels torn, knowing that while Khaled needs the hospital’s care, her other children remain back at their tent, facing empty pots and scarce food amidst a blockade that stretches into a third month, marking the longest since recent conflict escalation.
The situation in Gaza is dire. With the region isolated and heavily bombed, the risk of mass starvation looms large. Humanitarian workers scramble to combat a rising tide of child malnutrition. Many families, like Abdelaal’s, must watch helplessly as their children struggle against hunger, without any viable solutions. The lack of food and resources is pushing hospitals to their limits, with staff often prioritizing the most severe emergencies.
In markets, remaining food items are often priced exorbitantly and thus out of reach for the majority of Gaza’s residents, heavily reliant on aid. Meal distribution centers and bakeries are closing down due to the ongoing blockade, and community kitchens are ceasing operation, leaving many without essential nutrition.
Despite international appeals, the blockade remains. Accusations have been levied against Israel, which some humanitarian organizations claim are leveraging hunger as a tool of warfare. This has caused a growing outcry from various corners of the globe.
The unimaginable burden of watching her children suffer is a hardship that Abdelaal shares with many other parents in Gaza. Khaled’s struggle with malnutrition began when he was only two months old. Despite efforts to care for him through outpatient programs, the past seven months have seen him lose weight and strength. Abdelaal herself receives minimal nutrition and is physically weakened, yet she must persevere for the sake of her children.
Her other youngsters suffer similarly, with Ahmed, now seven, and Maria, four, showing signs of malnutrition. Despite obvious needs, there is an insufficient supply of supplements, with services extending only to the youngest like Khaled.
Since the blockade began, malnutrition rates are soaring, with U.N. reports showing alarming increases in acute malnutrition cases among children. As hospitals prioritize only the most critical of these cases for short-term treatment, malnutrition prevention efforts are stunted by dwindling resources.
“With the situation deteriorating, we face an inevitable rise of severe malnutrition cases,” notes a UNICEF spokesperson, underscoring the urgent need for solutions. But assistance is not reaching those in need, leaving many children without essential nutrition.
Ongoing conflict has also disrupted medical services for chronic conditions. Dr. Ahmed al-Farrah speaks grimly about the deteriorating health care system, noting his hospital’s struggle without basic supplies. Children with severe genetic disorders face an uncertain future.
Families like Osama al-Raqab’s endure tremendous hardship. Osama’s cystic fibrosis has worsened amid resource shortages, illustrating the dire consequences of insufficient nutrition and medical care. His mother describes the stark meals they rely on as meager and insufficient.
As the blockade persists, these pressures mount, and families like Abdelaal’s face a bleak daily reality. Constrained to limited resources, Abdelaal is often forced to ration and sacrifice her meager portions for her children, clinging to the hope of a reprieve.
The closure of borders has left parents struggling to provide even basic foods, a reality reflected in the anxious faces gathering around empty plates. The crisis forces families into desperate measures while they harbor little hope of relief. Those in Gaza, along with concerned global humanitarian voices, await the borders opening to provide much-needed assistance and mitigate further human suffering.