Israel's complete blockade of aid to the Gaza Strip has been going on for almost eleven weeks, and all Gazans are at risk of starvation. According to the UN-supported IPC, a good fifth of the population is now at catastrophic risk of starvation, the highest risk level.
In recent weeks, images of a malnourished little baby have been spread, following a report by the British BBC. Her name is Suwar Ashour, and she weighs only just over two kilos at five months old. Breastfeeding is not working, and Suwar needs a special kind of substitute, which is becoming increasingly difficult to find.
I am also suffering from malnutrition. I try to breastfeed Suwar, but she just cries and refuses. Therefore, I have been forced to use more of the substitute, says her mother, Najwa Aram, 23, to The Guardian.
Najwa Aram and her mother only have one bag of flour and a few cans left, writes the newspaper. Then it's over. Food prices have skyrocketed, and they cannot afford more, she says.
I am lying awake at night, worried about seeing my daughter like this. I am constantly worried.
Doctor Ahmed al-Farah, head of the pediatric and maternity departments at Nasser Hospital, says that resources are depleted and new malnourished children are coming in every day.
We have nothing to give them. They need proteins, but there are none. We try to give them milk or powdered milk, but we have nothing else, he says to The Guardian.
