Severe food shortage approaches as Israel's continuous embargo on Gaza marks its third month.
Life in Gaza: A Tempest of Starvation and Despair
The streets of Gaza are bearing witness to a harrowing drama - people clashing over the last cans of food, malnourished mothers struggling to nurse their emaciated newborns, and doctors grimly predicting the imminent mass graves of those doomed to starve.
"Within a week, we'll see devastating starvation," Dr. Ahmad Al-Farra, the head of pediatrics and obstetrics at Nasser Hospital, told NBC News.
Gaza is enduring its longest blockade of humanitarian aid since the war began on October 7, 2023. Israel's total ban on the entry of all goods, including food, fuel, and medical supplies, has stretched into its third grueling month. Despite a barrage of international condemnations, Israel persists in its blockade, and the security Cabinet is planning to escalate its offensive in Gaza.
For weeks, families survive on meager rations, consuming fewer meals, and smaller spoonfuls, every day clocking a new low of deprivation.
Parents are helplessly watching their children perish from hunger as warehouses lay barren and community kitchens shut their doors. In a region where 80% of the population relies on aid, according to the United Nations, agencies can barely meet the population's dwindling needs. As a result, the little food left in the markets is being sold at exorbitant prices.
Ossama Al-Raqab, a five-year-old boy with cystic fibrosis, lies in the pediatric ward of Nasser Hospital, unable to sit up straight. His gaunt face is etched with hollow cheeks, protruding ribs, and skinny limbs reduced to bone. His facial muscles have wasted away so much he can't close his mouth anymore.
"Mommy, Mommy, I want to go home," he whispers, his voice barely audible.
His mother, Mona Al-Raqab, sits beside him, showing a photo of her healthy and beaming son when he regularly enjoyed eggs, avocados, cashews, and almonds. "He needs food rich in protein and fat," she says. "But those food items are no longer accessible, and if they are, they're expensive."
Young Ossama is one of thousands already struggling with malnutrition, and doctors like Al-Farra have been warning for months that the hunger will eventually turn lethal.
"We are looking at 57 deaths from starvation for pediatrics," Al-Farra told NBC News. Those numbers are only expected to surge, and their gravity to intensify. "We're seeing increased cases of malnutrition and anemia."
More than 52,000 people have perished in Gaza since the war started, according to local health officials. Around half of the 59 remaining hostages taken from southern Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks are believed to be still captive. Almost 1,200 were killed in Israel, and 250 kidnapped during the Hamas-led attacks.
Israel imposed the current blockade on March 2, following the end of a two-month ceasefire and resumption of military operations. Israel justifies the blockade as a necessary measure to pressure Hamas into releasing the hostages. Israel has been accused of violating international humanitarian law by using starvation as a weapon of war, a charge it denies. Instead, it argues that adequate aid entered the strip during the ceasefire, and Hamas hijacked its delivery.
Survivors of malnutrition in Gaza must endure Israel's relentless bombardments. In Gaza's rudimentary healthcare system, even the most critical injuries are not getting treated, and minor injuries are proving fatal due to the depletion of blood supplies, another casualty of the hunger crisis.
Even when there is an available donor, "unfortunately, a lot of them already have anemia," thus disqualifying them from donating blood, Al-Farra explained.
The resumption of the blockade has led to a sharp surge in acute malnutrition among children, according to UNICEF. Its number doubled in March from the previous month. More than 9,000 children have been admitted or treated for acute malnutrition since the beginning of the year, UNICEF reported.
With bakeries shut down, fishing restricted, and farming land seized by Israeli forces, "humanitarian aid has become the only lifeline for children, and now it's about to run out," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell stated.
Starvation primarily targets the most vulnerable, and newborns and children already grappling with other health conditions are especially susceptible.
Siwar Ashour, a 5-month-old baby from Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, has lost half her weight, her mother, Najwa Aram, 23, informed NBC News. "I can't even afford milk," Ashour sobs. "I beg for clothes for her." Ashour shared how her daughter first contracted intestinal flu, which worsened as clean water and food became scarce.
"Every day his condition worsens," Al-Raqab sighs, gazing at her son, Ossama, who looks swallowed by the clothes that once fit him. "I long for him to be a normal child, to play with other kids, to go out, and finish kindergarten."
- In the midst of this crisis, the markets of Gaza, once bustling with various goods, now sell what little food remains at exorbitant prices, as international aid struggles to meet the dwindling needs of the population.
- Amidst the political differences and military conflicts, the escalating situation in Gaza is not only a matter of war but also of health-and-wellness, with starvation threatening the lives of newborns, children, and vulnerable adults alike.
- The scientific community is raising concerns about mental-health issues in Gaza, as the ongoing hunger crisis and war-and-conflicts take a toll on the residents' emotional well-being.
- Meanwhile, in the realm of general-news, the international community continues to monitor the political standoff between Israel and Hamas, debating the ethics of using starvation as a tool of war, while Gaza's residents grapple with the effects of an inadequate nutrition and skewed fitness-and-exercise routines due to the limited resources.
