The Electronic Intifada 18 June 2024
A family mourn a boy who died from hunger in Gaza.
APA imagesFaiz Abu Ataya was a baby.
As he had an allergy to cow’s milk, Faiz required a special infant formula. It has been unavailable in Gaza’s pharmacies during the current genocidal war.
While Faiz needed four cans of the formula per month, the most his parents could get from a charity were two.
As his mother was not properly nourished, she could only produce a small quantity of breastmilk when Faiz was born and – after about two months – none at all.
Desperate, his parents felt they had no choice than to give Faiz the only infant formula they could find. The situation was grim as Faiz had constant diarrhea and problems with his gut after he was given that formula.
When Faiz had breathing difficulties, his father Muhammad rushed him to hospital.
Faiz’s weight began to fall. No suitable food could be found for him.
“The medics and I saw him dying before our eyes,” Muhammad said. “We were unable to do anything for him.”
At the age of just 7 months, Faiz died.
“He died of starvation,” Muhammad said. “He became a skeleton, just one kilo in weight.”
“We fear he will die hungry”
Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, recently documented more than 200 cases in which children showed multiple signs of malnutrition.
Bahaa, 10, is one the children being treated at that hospital.
Before the war began, Bahaa followed a special diet as he has cerebral palsy.
With food scarce, his father spends much of the day searching for chicken, eggs, fruit and vegetables so that Bahaa can stay alive.
When his father finds suitable food items, “he buys a few of them despite their skyrocketing cost,” said Um Bahaa – Bahaa’s mother.
For several days, Bahaa’s parents went without food themselves so that they could feed their son.
“But the amount of food he eats is not enough,” Um Bahaa said. “That’s why he is losing weight.”
“We fear that he will die hungry,” she added.
Yamen, 3, has experienced malabsorption since he was born.
His health problems have worsened amid the current war, during which people throughout Gaza have become reliant on canned, rather than fresh, food.
Soon after food became scarce, Yamen started vomiting and having diarrhea.
As he is dehydrated, Yamen should be drinking plenty of water and be fed nutritious soup to replace lost fluids.
Yamen is living with his parents in a tent. It has been set up in al-Mawasi, an area of southern Gaza.
As there is no clean water available, Yamen’s father Ismael has to visit a school a few kilometers away every day so that he can get a bottle of salty water.
Ismael also spends a great deal of time looking for lentils, which can be used in making soup.
Although Yamen has been taking nutritional supplements he gets from a clinic, his weight has fallen considerably.
“I am terrified of losing him,” Ismael, his father said. “He is my only child.”
Khuloud Rabah Sulaiman is a journalist living in Gaza.
