Children starving, parents helpless as famine consumes northern Gaza
Palestinian children wait for a hot meal prepared by volunteers in Rafah, southern Gaza, 4 April 2024
Ibrahim Mohammad reports in +972 on 18 June 2024:
When 10-month-old Saeed Darwish tries to cry, he is no longer able to make a sound. His sunken eyes and pale skin testify to his painfully empty stomach: he has barely eaten in weeks. With the northern Gaza Strip once again facing critical shortages of food, water, and infant formula as a result of Israel’s siege and ongoing military bombardment, Saeed is one of many Palestinian children whose bodies are wasting away from starvation.
The doctors at Kamal Adwan Hospital, in the town of Beit Lahia, say Saeed is suffering from severe fatigue, emaciation, and anemia. His father, Khalil, sits at his bedside, waiting agonizingly for Saeed’s condition to improve; his heart is wracked with the pain and helplessness of being unable to relieve his son’s affliction.
“My child wakes up crying every night from extreme hunger, but I cannot find anything to feed him,” Khalil told +972. “All I can bring him is pieces of bread — and even this is becoming scarce.”
Khalil fears that Saeed could join a growing list of more than 30 Palestinian children in Gaza who have died of malnutrition and dehydration in recent months. In March, northern Gaza was declared to be facing imminent famine. Now, according to the World Health Organization, “a significant proportion” of Gaza’s entire population is experiencing “catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions.” At Kamal Adwan Hospital alone, 50 children are currently being treated for severe malnutrition.
The scarcity of humanitarian aid entering the Strip means that many families have no access to basic essentials. In the north, “there’s no rice, vegetables, or flour,” Khalil explained. “If any of these goods are available [in the market], their prices are insane. The majority of the population cannot afford them.” To make matters worse, Saeed’s mother was wounded in the latest Israeli invasion of Jabalia, and is unable to breastfeed.
On another bed close to Saeed lies 18-month-old Mahmoud Safi, who is suffering from malnutrition-induced anemia. “The disease is mercilessly sweeping through my little child’s body,” said Mahmoud’s father, Mustafa. “I do not know how to deal with his harsh cries.”