At least 66 children have lost their lives due to malnutrition in Gaza since Israel’s war and blockade started more than 20 months ago, as per local health officials. According to doctors, babies are wasting away due to the shortage of formula and specialized medical food, while desperate parents search for rubble for any milk substitute none of which is good for infants.
In Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Dr Ahmad al‑Fara rushes between incubators, attempting to keep premature infants alive with running out of supplies. “These kids are under slow death,” he said to NBC News. Gaza’s field hospitals’ director, Dr Marwan al‑Hams, validated that medical centers have depleted type 1 and type 2 infant formula and the nutrient mixes needed for incubators. “Malnutrition in pregnant and lactating women is aggravating things,” he said.
UNICEF reports the crisis is speeding up. In January to May, over 16,700 children between six months and five years old received treatment for acute malnutrition an average of 112 per day. In May alone, 5,119 were admitted, a 150 percent increase from February, when assistance was still arriving during a temporary cease‑fire. “Each one of these cases is avoidable,” UNICEF regional director Edouard Beigbeder said. “Food, water, and therapeutic nutrition are being denied.”
Israel resumed full military activities in March, breaking the truce and imposing an 11‑week blanket blockade that stopped food, fuel, and aid shipments. While some UN agencies have since been permitted to import small amounts of supplies, the humanitarian crisis remains deteriorating. Gaza’s health ministry reports that Israeli soldiers have shot and killed over 500 Palestinians trying to gather food, including at locations operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a distribution system supported by the US and Israel.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres referred to GHF operations as “inherently unsafe” and charged that Israel had produced “a humanitarian crisis of horrific proportions.” Doctors Without Borders called the existing aid system “a slaughterhouse masquerading as humanitarian relief.
Dr Aziz Rahman, a US intensive‑care volunteer who has worked at Nasser Hospital, encapsulated the situation: “There are 600,000 malnourished under‑five children in Gaza. The answer is easy let aid in. This crisis is man‑made.”