
There is nothing easy about life in the Gaza Strip right now. Families try to stay together and keep each other safe every day. Among the most vulnerable are children, particularly infants. Many babies in Gaza are dying in hospitals, but not because of disease. Instead, malnutrition is the culprit as Israel restricts supplies, including baby formula.
Dr. Ahmad al-Fara works at Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital and spends his days trying to save the lives of infants and children, according to NBC News. “These children are facing slow death,” al-Fara said.
Dr. Marwan al-Hams, Gaza’s director of field hospitals, shared the same sad reality with NBC News. “We currently do not have Type 1 or 2 infant formula in hospitals, nor do we have the medical formula we use in incubators,” he said.
Some babies are doing OK because their mothers can breastfeed, but for mothers who also experience malnutrition, it affects their milk supply. The lack of nutrition is causing infants and children to be susceptible to infection, swelling, and organ failure as well.
Noha al-Lahham, mother to newborn Mohammad Hisham al-Lahham, shared her sorrow with NBC News. “My child needs milk and vitamins to live,” she said through tears. “I want him to grow up and see life.”
NBC News reported the United Nations had warned for quite some time that Gaza was on the verge of famine. UNICEF claims the hunger crisis has gotten much worse after Israel’s months-long blockade on food, aid, and medical supplies. The lack of supplies has triggered a 150% surge in children admitted for malnutrition. Officials partially lifted the blockade in May, but infants and children continue to suffer the consequences.
“Every one of the cases is preventable,” Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, shared in a statement obtained by NBC News. “The food, water and nutrition treatments they desperately need are being blocked from reaching them.”
UNICEF added that if the situation doesn’t change quickly, malnutrition could reach its highest levels since the conflict began.
Dr. Aziz Rahman, a US intensive care specialist volunteering in Khan Younism, slammed those preventing children from getting proper nutrition.
“There are 600,000 kids under 5 in Gaza who are malnourished, and we are seeing the worst of the worst,” he said. “Can we feed these babies? The answer is simple: allow aid to come in. The solution is easy. The problem is man-made.”