Sana'a - Saba:
The children of Gaza, enduring unprecedented humanitarian suffering, go to bed on empty stomachs as the Israeli enemy continues to target their sustenance and the food supplies essential for their survival by closing crossings and blocking aid.
Meanwhile, the entire world watches as they are forced to survive on tree leaves and saltwater—yet fails to take decisive action to reject their starvation and extermination.
Earlier on Monday, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that hospitals in the Strip recorded 14 new deaths over the past 24 hours, raising the total number of fatalities from famine and malnutrition to 147, including 88 children.
"We almost have no words left to describe how horrific the situation in Gaza is now. On average, a classroom of children is killed every day," said Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, summarizing the Palestinian bloodshed in Gaza due to the Israeli aggression—backed by the U.S. and ongoing for nearly two years—in full view of the world.
In a scene that encapsulates the tragedy of childhood in besieged Gaza, four children from the same family left their house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza in search of food to survive. But they never returned, victims of the genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli enemy. Omar and Amir came back in pieces, followed by their cousin Sama, while the fourth child, Siraj, fights for his life in one of Gaza’s hospitals, exhausted by the siege and aggression.
"Children Suffer the Most"
On Monday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) confirmed that "all Palestinians in Gaza are starving, but children are suffering the most."
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), UNICEF stated: "Everyone in Gaza is starving, but children are suffering the most. As of July 25, reports indicate 83 children have died from malnutrition."
It added: "Instead of going to school, boys and girls are risking their lives in the hope of finding some food."
The organization stressed: "Adequate aid must be allowed in now."
Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that the number of patients registered for malnutrition treatment at its clinic in Gaza has quadrupled since May 18.
It explained that the rate of acute malnutrition among children under five in Gaza has tripled in the past two weeks.
The organization stated that what is happening in Gaza is deliberate starvation carried out by Israeli authorities, demanding that they allow food supplies and humanitarian aid into Gaza on a large scale.
It further noted that patients and healthcare workers in Gaza are now fighting for survival.
In turn, Khalil Al-Daqran, spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, said that Gaza’s children are suffering from hunger under harsh health conditions.
Al-Daqqan added in a statement to Al Jazeera that patients with chronic diseases in Gaza face the risk of death due to shortages of food and medicine.
He warned that the remaining hospitals in the Gaza Strip are at risk of shutting down due to fuel shortages, noting that medical teams are suffering from hunger and malnutrition under catastrophic conditions.
He continued, "We fear an increase in the number of fatalities we receive due to worsening hunger in the Gaza Strip," adding that all residents of the Strip are at risk of malnutrition.
This comes as 900,000 children in Gaza suffer from hunger, with 70,000 of them already experiencing malnutrition.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) had previously warned that malnutrition among children under five had doubled between March and June due to the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
The Zionist entity is using starvation in Gaza as a tool against Palestinian civilians to break the will of resistance and force surrender, hoping to achieve what it could not militarily in the besieged enclave.
According to Article 54 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions (1977), "starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited," including the destruction or rendering useless of objects indispensable to civilian survival, such as food, water, and agricultural facilities.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has previously condemned this method in several cases, considering it a war crime when deliberately used against civilians, prompting legal organizations to call for independent investigations into the situation in Gaza.
International organizations continue to monitor the hunger and siege in Gaza. According to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) dated July 23, 2025, over a million children in Gaza are now in a state of "acute food insecurity," with the Strip facing a widespread risk of famine, while 88% of its population lives in areas under evacuation orders or direct military activity.
Mothers… Another Face of the Traged
Children, pregnant women, and mothers are among the most affected by Israel’s starvation policy in the besieged Gaza Strip.
UNICEF warned that nearly 71,000 children under five suffer from acute malnutrition, including thousands in a state of "severe wasting that threatens their lives," in addition to over 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women in critical nutritional condition.
American doctor Ambreen Salim stated that she has had to perform premature cesarean sections on Palestinian women in Gaza suffering from severe health complications due to lack of food and medicine, with many giving birth to extremely underweight babies prematurely amid Israel’s ongoing genocide and starvation crimes in the Strip.
During an interview with Anadolu Agency, the American doctor appeared next to a malnourished newborn in an incubator, explaining that the baby was born two weeks prematurely via C-section.
Salim, who arrived in Gaza three weeks ago through the US-based NGO Bayt Al-Mal, is working alongside local medical teams at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
She noted a severe shortage of equipment, supplies, and beds in Nasser Hospital and across all hospitals in Gaza, complicating patient care, especially for pregnant women and children.
She added that the maternity ward at Nasser Hospital lacks sufficient beds to accommodate pregnant mothers, newborns, war-wounded patients, and malnutrition cases, negatively impacting treatment.
According to the Gaza Government Media Office, 60,000 pregnant women are at risk due to the lack of healthcare and food security.
Last Saturday, the Government Media Office warned of a mass death threat facing over 100,000 children in Gaza due to the depletion of milk and nutritional supplements, as Israel’s starvation policy continues alongside its ongoing genocide, now in its 21st month.
Before We Leave: A Child’s Testimony
We pause to reflect on the testimony of a child from Gaza who went out searching for food to fight his hunger and his family’s—only to be captured and tortured by Israeli soldiers along with his friends. This account was documented by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
Faris, along with nine of his friends, was seized by Israeli occupation soldiers while trying to obtain food aid from distribution centers in Rafah, southern Gaza.
The children gave shocking testimonies, confirming they were subjected to "severe violations and brutal torture." Before their arrest, the soldiers had opened fire on four civilians, including a child who was martyred, with dozens injured.
One of the released boys said: "My mother would split a loaf of bread in half—half for the morning, half for the evening. I saw her tears every day, and I couldn’t do anything… I decided to go out and find food, even if it meant dying."
With these words, the Gazan child expressed the tragedy endured by children, mothers, and all residents of the Strip, suffering under an Israeli aggression that targets everything in a barbaric war—one that has yet to awaken the world’s conscience to loudly demand: Stop the killing and the destruction of life!
With American and European support, the Israeli enemy army has been committing genocide crimes in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, resulting in the martyrdom of 59,921 Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom are children , women, and the injury of 145,233 others, as of today, in a non-final toll. Thousands of victims remain under the rubble , in the streets, unreachable by rescue and ambulance crews.
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