The dust settled, but the hunger remained, a gnawing emptiness that echoed in every corner of what was once a bustling home. Mommies of every baby, their eyes hollowed by sleepless nights and constant worry, gently stroked the tiny hand of her newborn, Israa, like thousands. Israa, along with her triplet sisters Ayla and Aylol, was a miracle born into a nightmare. They were underweight, fragile, and a constant reminder of the scarcity that gripped Gaza.
Alaa remembered the terror of her pregnancy, fleeing their home three times, clutching her swollen belly, praying her babies wouldn't "slip away" amidst the chaos. They found refuge in an overcrowded school, a place with little food, no clean water, and no medical care. Malnutrition became a shadow, clinging to Alaa, weakening her until even standing was a struggle. It was a project offering maternal care that became their lifeline, providing check-ups, vitamins, and the faint hope of survival.
But for many, hope was a luxury. Esraa Abu Halib pressed a final, tearful kiss to her 5-month-old daughter, Zainab. Zainab, who weighed less at her death than at her birth, was another victim of the relentless war and the blockade that choked off aid. Her father, Ahmed, spoke of the special formula Zainab needed, a formula that simply didn't exist in Gaza. Zainab was one of dozens of children who had succumbed to malnutrition-related causes, their names becoming numbers in a tragic tally.
Hospitals, once places of healing, were now overwhelmed, overflowing with scrawny children, some too weak to cry. Mothers, themselves malnourished, huddled around doctors, begging for supplements that were often unavailable. The stories were heartbreaking: a 2-year-old with protruding ribs and a swollen belly, a baby with jaundice because her breastfeeding mother was too undernourished to provide sufficient milk, children with emaciated limbs screaming in agony, and others lying silently, their small bodies shutting down.
The medical staff, too, felt the gnawing hunger, some resorting to IV drips to keep going. They spoke of a "population death spiral," of children dying from preventable causes, their immune systems collapsing, their lives hanging by a thread. The images of these "walking corpses," as some described them, were a stark testament to a man-made catastrophe, a desperate plea for the world to see beyond headlines and recognise the human cost of starvation.
