'Death of a generation': Gaza stripes fight against hunger under the deepening of the Israeli siege

Suwar Ashour only weighed 2.4 kg five months ago. Since then it has increased less than half a kilogram.

“She had a hard time of breast milk and formula,” said her mother Najwa Aram when she leaned over the crib, where the tiny child was.

Aram told Middle East Eye that she had stayed in the hospital for 10 days with her baby.

Aram himself is malnourished and has fought to breastfeed.

“Suwar was born during the difficulty of the war,” she said.

“While I was pregnant, there was no diet – no meat, no eggs, no dairy products. There was nothing.”

The food shortage in Gaza was widespread in Gaza since the beginning of the war in October 2023. The blockade brought a widespread malnutrition.

During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the family managed to maintain a formula that could tolerate Suwar.

“While I was pregnant, there was no diet – no meat, no eggs, no dairy products. There was nothing '

– Najwa Aram, new mother

For the first time she increased in weight and finally reached 4 kg.

But when the Muslim world was ready to celebrate Eid al -Fitr – the festival that marked the end of Lent – Israel resumed the bomb attack and imposed a total blockade.

Suwar's condition began to worsen again.

The newborn showed signs of dehydration.

Her mother hurried to the hospital, where she has stayed since April 8.

Although her condition had initially improved, she developed the intestinal flu on the third day, which was further tightened by the lack of formula and pressed deeper into the malnutrition.

“Our financial situation is bad,” said the anxious mother.

Her husband was blinded by Israeli armed forces from 2018 during the great march of the return of Israeli armed forces, and her home was destroyed in an Israeli air raid so that they were expelled.

Aram, like many Palestinians in Gaza, was sold several times during the devastating war. She now lives in a tent.

Her only wish is survival and recovery of your child.

“God wants, they open the intersections and make the formula they need … I hope they get better, return to its way and even stronger,” she said.

Ahmed al-Farara, director of the pediatric department in the Nasser Hospital, where Suwar is treated, told me that nothing had entered the besieged enclave in the past two months.

“We speak of 2.3 million people who are caught in a huge prison. Gaza is completely cut off from the country, sea and air,” he said.

According to al-Farara, Gaza was withdrawn from all viable food sources. The bakeries are closed, prices in private markets have increased due to dwindling supplies, and the aid camps operated by international organizations are now empty.

Catastrophic food uncertainty

According to Fara, the population of Gaza is now with catastrophic food levels of food uncertainty, which is classified as phase five for the integrated classification of the nutrition security phase (IPC) ranging from one (minimal) to five (disasters/famine).

“When the intersections remain closed and there is no international pressure on Israel to raise the siege, we look at the mass death of most children, women and the elderly in Gaza – in addition to a large part of the wider population,” he warned.

The IPC is often used by NGOs, charity organizations and aid organizations to evaluate nutritional security and nutritional crises. He found that Gaza is now firmly in the worst category.

“We experience the systematic targeting of an entire generation of children”

– Ahmed al-Fara, Palestinian pediatrician

Women and children are among the most endangered, he added. Pregnant women have no access to regular medical care and suffer from severe nutrient deficiencies due to the lack of food and essential vitamins.

“A pregnant woman has no access to adequate nutrition, no security and lives in constant fear,” he said.

“As a result, many form prematurely or convey underweight babies.”

In both scenarios, these children have long -term consequences ranging from low birth weight and susceptibility to infections to weakened immune systems.

During early development, a child's nervous system is particularly sensitive to malnutrition. Under such conditions, children can suffer from bad concentrations, communication difficulties and even develop learning disorders.

“We are experiencing the systematic targeting of an entire generation of children,” he concludes.

Dr. Fara said she was one of many children suffering from malnutrition and remains in a critical condition.

He added that the number of such cases increases quickly. Every day the hospital is overwhelmed by new emergency rooms in connection with malnutrition.

“We are now seeing an unprecedented number of malnutrition cases, numbers that we could never have imagined before,” he said.

According to Munir al-Barsh, General Director of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, 91 percent of the population have now confronted a food crisis under the ongoing Israeli attack.

“Gaza lives through a terrible humanitarian catastrophe – one through hunger, poverty, poverty and illness that is determined by genocide and an arising Israeli siege, which includes the closure of intersections and the systematic denial refusal of humanitarian aid,” said Barsh.

He found that 92 percent of children and breastfeeding mothers have severe malnutrition and “represent a direct threat to their life and development”.

Since Israel broke the ceasefire six weeks ago, its military has killed more than 2,326 Palestinians and has brought the total number of deaths to at least 52,000 people since October 2023, including over 15,000 children.