In Gaza, where war has devastated not just infrastructure but lives, mothers now face a quieter, more excruciating battle watching their newborns starve.
At Nasser Hospital, 35-year-old Samia Ashour cradles her 50-day-old son, Ibrahim, whose fragile body weighs less than two kilograms. His eyes don’t follow movement, and his limbs barely respond. “I breastfeed him every day,” she says. “But he’s wasting away in front of me.”
Ashour survived her pregnancy on just one sparse meal daily no vegetables, no milk, no protein. Now, despite her desperate efforts, she cannot give her son what he needs most: formula. “Even if I had money, there’s nothing to buy. The crossings are closed. The shelves are empty.”
Since March 2, Israel has sealed the Kerem Shalom crossing Gaza’s main aid artery after a ceasefire deal collapsed. No food, medicine, or baby formula has entered the enclave, leaving over two million residents, half of them children, in crisis.
The result, aid organizations warn, is a man-made famine sweeping across Gaza like a second wave of war. Over 60,000 children are at risk of severe malnutrition, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
In Gaza City, 29-year-old Reham Khamis tends to her 20-day-old daughter, Rana, who lies in emergency care at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. “She doesn’t cry. She doesn’t move. Only her eyes open and close,” Khamis says. “She is starving. We all are.”
With formula nearly impossible to find and clean water scarce, families resort to unsafe substitutes that can make infants even sicker. Health experts warn of irreversible damage and a looming outbreak of diseases like polio and measles.
UNICEF has called the aid halt the most devastating for children since the war began. Nearly 10,000 infants under six months urgently need feeding support.
For mothers like Ashour, the heartbreak is unbearable. “I gave him life,” she whispers. “And now I’m watching it slip away.”
