Gaza – Mothers in Gaza are growing increasingly desperate as starvation spreads through the enclave, leaving infants and women among the most vulnerable. Reporting from central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary described crowded clinics where malnourished newborns are being treated under the shadow of Israel’s ongoing blockade on humanitarian aid.
Inside one such clinic, Samar Abu Ajwah held her frail newborn son, Eyad, whose weak cries filled the room. At just 1.9 kilograms, Eyad has been diagnosed with severe malnutrition. “He needs milk, and we are appealing for help from people who can afford it because we cannot,” said Abu Ajwah. She, too, is suffering from malnutrition, struggling to stay healthy under the restrictions on food and aid.
Nearby, another mother, Ameera Tafesh, anxiously sought help for her six-month-old daughter, Ru’a, who has become dangerously thin. Tafesh explained that she had been able to breastfeed only briefly after birth before her body stopped producing enough milk. “I need to feed her formula, but it’s not available,” she told Al Jazeera, reflecting a plight shared by thousands of mothers across Gaza.
Doctors at the camp say such cases are becoming alarmingly common as mothers, deprived of adequate nutrition themselves, are unable to provide for their children. With formula milk and baby food nearly impossible to find, infants like Eyad and Ru’a face life-threatening hunger, exposing the devastating human cost of Gaza’s deepening Israeli-induced malnutrition crisis.
Leave a comment