As new reports warn of a growing likelihood of famine spreading across the Gaza Strip by the end of September, Palestinian health workers and families have shared further testimonies about the impact of hunger caused by the ongoing Israeli blockade of humanitarian relief. “The markets are completely empty: no eggs, no meat, no fruit, not even vegetables,” a displaced mother in Gaza told the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. “What little food is available is too expensive.”
According to the most recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, the price of staple foods in Gaza has skyrocketed as a result of the blockade, affecting both families and community kitchens’ ability to prepare meals. The IPC report stated that the price of wheat flour has increased by 3,000% since February, with a 25-kilogram bag now costing between USD 235 and USD 520, depending on the area. Similarly, community kitchens reported a 70% reduction in meal preparation within just a few days. Between May 7 and 12, the number of meals prepared dropped from 840,000 to only 260,000 – another devastating blow to hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people.
“Latest data show many households resorting to extreme coping strategies,” the IPC report warned. “A third reported collecting garbage to sell for food, while a quarter indicated that no valuable garbage remains. Observations reveal that social order is breaking down.”
Read more: Israeli security cabinet approves plans to seize entire Gaza Strip and control delivery of humanitarian aid
Hunger is taking a particularly severe toll on children, new mothers, and pregnant women, Palestinian organizations have warned alongside international health organizations. Hospitals that rarely saw such cases before October 7, 2023, are now trying to treat hundreds of children for malnutrition and dehydration, as nutrition supplements remain blocked by Israeli authorities.
Conditions have deteriorated even in comparison to the brief ceasefire that Israel broke in mid-March. “During the ceasefire, these cases [patients requiring hospitalization due to malnutrition] had constituted approximately 16% of all hospital admissions, but that number has surged to around 60%” nutrition specialist Dr. Rana Zuaiter reported, reflecting on the situation in Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat.
Health workers like Dr. Zuaiter have witnessed dozens of children die from malnutrition and dehydration, most of them younger than one year old. Hunger-related complications begin even before birth, with growing numbers of babies born prematurely and underweight. Health workers in Gaza observed that babies’ birth weights now typically range between 1.5 and 2.5 kilograms, significantly below the standard of 2.5 to 3.5 kilograms.
Children’s health is inextricably tied to their mothers’ well-being. With hundreds of thousands of women unable to access nutritious food and therefore unable to breastfeed, perinatal health problems have become widespread. “I experienced heavy bleeding after birth, and my baby weighed only 2.2 kilograms,” another woman told Al Mezan. “She still suffers from severe jaundice, but the doctors couldn’t even determine its severity because the necessary test is unavailable.”
Read more: Health conditions for children in Gaza “desperate” as blockade continues
Weakened by malnutrition, children’s immune systems have been less able to cope with communicable diseases, including respiratory infections and skin conditions. Physicians at Nasser Hospital reported that since late 2023, they have treated 30 cases of severe pneumonia in children, compared to only a couple in a typical year before. Of those 30 cases, 24 children required partial lung removal, while the remaining six died.
Surviving under genocide has deeply compromised the long-term health and development of Gaza’s children. “They became weak, lethargic, and unable to play or run,” one mother described. “They have also developed skin diseases […] If this continues, my children will lose their ability to move, hear, and see.”
Although some Western governments have published apprehensive statements about the risk of famine in Gaza, Al Mezan and other organizations warn that such statements are not enough. Evidence that Israel is deliberately using starvation as a weapon of war points to a broader strategy aimed at destroying the Palestinian population in Gaza. “What is urgently needed now are not more expressions of concern, but concrete actions,” Al Mezan stated. The organization is demanding that Israel’s allies impose sanctions and a comprehensive arms embargo, and suspend diplomatic and economic relations with the occupation entity to curtail its capacity to continue the genocide.
People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and subscriptions to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.
