Ramallah, July 24, 2024—“There was no formula milk due to the Israeli siege, and there was no milk in my breasts due to the lack of nutrition and the prevention of the entry of aid,” the mother of three-month-old Anwar Al-Khudari from Al-Shujaiya, east of Gaza city told Defense for Children International - Palestine.
"I was displaced in Al-Shifa Hospital, along with my husband, and my only son, Anwar,” she continued.
Little Anwar died in Kamal Adwan Hospital from malnutrition on February 14.
“My son cried all night from hunger. His temperature rose and he started having convulsions. He passed away four days later," said Anwar’s mother.
Anwar is one of at least several dozen Palestinian children who have died in the Gaza Strip due to malnutrition and dehydration in recent months.
Israeli authorities are systematically denying Palestinian children in Gaza access to adequate food and nutrition, exacerbating starvation and malnutrition. This deliberate deprivation is leading to severe health issues, stunted growth, and an alarming increase in child fatality rates. The blockade and restrictions on humanitarian aid during the Israeli genocide are creating a humanitarian crisis and perpetuating suffering of whole population of Gaza Strip.
“Young Palestinian children are dying hungry and in pain because Israeli authorities have deliberately blocked humanitarian aid to north Gaza, which is an act of genocide,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Between the closure of the Gaza Strip and Israeli forces’ nonstop attacks, we simply do not know the full scale of the starvation crisis. Without an immediate ceasefire and arms embargo enacted by the international community, more Palestinian children in Gaza will die of starvation.”
DCIP field researchers collected testimonies from the parents of children who died from malnutrition and dehydration at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the city of Beit Lahia in north Gaza as a result of Israel’s campaign of genocide.
“The hospital receives around 70 to 100 children every day suffering from malnutrition,” Dr. Husam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, told DCIP. “There are three levels of child malnutrition: mild, moderate, and severe, and most of the cases admitted to the hospital are of the moderate level, while the severe ones represent five to seven percent of the caseload. This percentage may increase if starvation continues and food supplies are not brought in.”
“The spread of hunger in north Gaza and the resulting deaths of children due to malnutrition have become a stark reality. Over 25 children have died at Kamal Adwan Hospital due to hunger, with additional deaths reported in shelter centers and homes. Many were unable to reach the hospital due to the ongoing Israeli siege and aggression,” Dr. Abu Safia continued.
“Karam loved playing football and photography, and he created an account for himself on TikTok,” the mother of 10-year-old Karam Qadadah told DCIP.
Karam was trapped for a week along with his family in Al-Shifa Hospital amid a severe shortage of food supplies caused by the Israeli siege on the hospital. During the siege, the child was allowed to evacuate from Al-Shifa Hospital and was transferred to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
Karam's condition worsened due to the lack of food, medical treatment, and antibiotics at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. His health deteriorated significantly, leading to severe weight loss. He was then transferred to Kamal Adwan Hospital.
“My son was placed in the women's section [upon arrival at Kamal Adwan hospital] because there was no room for him in the ICU. This made his condition worse, and he was later transferred to the ICU. He died after a week in the unit," Karam’s mother told DCIP.
Karam died on March 30 due to malnutrition and elevated salt levels in the blood.
Kamal Adwan hospital and other hospitals in Gaza have been unable to gather comprehensive data on the extent of child fatalities due to malnutrition and dehydration due to the ongoing genocide and severe staffing shortages.
Seven-day-old Abdulaziz Salem died in Kamal Adwan Hospital on March 2 due to cardiac arrest and lack of oxygen. He was born in the same hospital without the assistance of doctors due to insufficient medical staff. Abdulaziz spent a week in an incubator while his mother was in critical condition, suffering from jaundice and the effects of malnutrition during pregnancy.
“I could not breastfeed my son because I had no food and I became sick,” Abdulaziz’s mother told DCIP. Her family is from Al-Faluja, west of Jabalia refugee camp in north Gaza, and were forcibly displaced at least six times during her pregnancy.
“There was no oxygen or baby formula in the hospital. My son died, suffocating and hungry,” she said.
Hospitals in north Gaza are in critical condition due to Israeli authorities deliberately depriving Palestinians in Gaza of essential medical supplies, cutting off the supply of electricity, and limiting clean water that is required to provide proper health care for children.
Seven-day-old Joud Al-Barsh from Jabalia refugee camp also died in Kamal Adwan Hospital on March 2 due to malnutrition, as her mother was unable to breastfeed her as a result of the mother's malnutrition. She was placed in the hospital's nursery for a week in light of a severe shortage of milk and formula.
"Joud died of hunger, and I am left with her twin sister, whom God gave me after 10 years of marriage," said Joud’s mother.
“There are hundreds of children facing the risk of death from starvation, as a result of the ongoing restrictions and war, since October 7,” Dr. Said Salah, a pediatrician and nutrition official at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza told DCIP. "More than 3,500 children under the age of five are now at risk of slow death due to the Israeli policies of starving children and blocking the entry of humanitarian aid [to north Gaza] for two months in a row.”
"I am an ICU nurse at Kamal Adwan Hospital,” the mother of three-year-old Mila Abdulnabi told DCIP. “My daughter died in front of my eyes and I could not save her.”
“I resumed working that day [of her death] and my colleagues closed the door to stop me from coming in. But when I got in, I found my daughter dead and covered in a shroud," she continued.
Mila Abdulnabi died in Kamal Adwan Hospital on March 2 due to malnutrition and a lack of potassium and calcium.
"When the Israeli forces invaded the northern area and deprived us of food, my daughter suffered from a deficiency of minerals and remained on respirators from February 29 until the day she died. Mila was very smart and attached to me, as she was my only daughter,” her mother said.
"Musab became a skeleton because of the famine,” the mother of Musab Abu Asr from Al-Shujaiya, east of Gaza city, told DCIP. “The prices are extraordinarily high, and no one could afford to buy anything.”
Four-year-old Musab Abu Asr was admitted to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital on February 3, before he was transferred to Kamal Adwan Hospital as the ICU was shut down due to power outages. His health deteriorated and he lost weight until he died on February 11.
“My son Musab was our first child. He was smart and bright in kindergarten. All his teachers praised him. He was sociable and joined his classmates in playing. He loved riding his bike. He loved strawberries and bananas a lot. He was the joy of my heart," said Musab’s mother.
"My son was admitted to the hospital twice. The first time was because of severe crying and dehydration, and his condition improved with solutions and treatment,” the mother of two-month-old Nahed Haboush from Jabalia refugee camp
Nahed suffered from health deterioration and dehydration, and was placed in the ICU where he remained on respirators for three days until he died on April 3. “Nahed died of starvation due to lack of breastfeeding because there was no food for me or baby formula because of the Israeli siege," said the mother.
At least 34 Palestinian children have starved to death, according to the Governmental Media Office. However, the official Palestinian death toll includes only those who pass away in hospitals or whose deaths are reported by their families.
The telecommunications blackout, the collapse of the medical system, the Israeli ground invasion, and ongoing Israeli aerial bombardment have prevented many Palestinians from accessing hospitals, resulting in a higher number of impacted Palestinians than officially reported.
Around 3,500 children are at risk of death due to malnutrition and lack of necessary medical care and at least 40,000 infants did not receive the necessary immunizations and vaccinations on a regular basis, according to the Governmental Media Office.
About 82,000 children showed symptoms of malnutrition, according to the same Office, leaving more than 50,000 children requiring treatment for acute malnutrition, according to UNRWA.
The lack of transportation and ambulances, along with a critical shortage of essential medications, restricts healthcare access. Women face challenges breastfeeding due to nutritional deficiencies, lack of privacy, stress, and trauma, compounded by a shortage of milk formula, limited malnutrition screenings, and inconsistent nutrition supplement distribution, according to UN OCHA.
Both North Gaza and Gaza Governorates are experiencing famine conditions and around 70 percent of the population, approximately 210,000 people, are in a catastrophic situation, according to the latest report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
Starvation is considered a crime against humanity and a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), when used as a method of warfare or as a deliberate act against a population.
Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) -War crimes- of Rome Statute of the (ICC) recognizes starvation as a method of warfare and states that "intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions."
Article 54 of Protocol I (Protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population) to the Geneva Conventions states “Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited. It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or to the adverse Party, whatever the motive, whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive.”
International criminal law prohibits serious atrocities, including core crimes of genocide, the crime of aggression, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, and provides for individual criminal responsibility for perpetrators. The crime of genocide constitutes the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group, in whole or in part. Genocide can result from killing or by creating conditions of life that are so unbearable it brings about the group’s destruction. Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is an underlying act of genocide and amounts to a war crime.