Interviews conducted in Gaza’s camps reveal families living on a single meal a day, with children often left to sleep hungry. The Ministry of Health has recorded more than one hundred child deaths linked to malnutrition. Aid groups have reported thousands of new cases of acute malnutrition among children in July, with many classed as severe.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women described being unable to feed their infants. Many go without food themselves to prioritize their children. With infant formula scarce and expensive, and with clean water in short supply, mothers spoke of children weakened by hunger and frequent infections. Health workers report that hospitals lack basic equipment to treat them.
Older residents face the same scarcity. Some survive on soup or bread distributed once a week. Others ration expired medicine for chronic illnesses such as diabetes or heart conditions. Several said the lack of food and care leaves them dependent on relatives already struggling to survive.
Doctors in Gaza say the collapse of healthcare services has left them unable to manage conditions that could once be treated. Infectious diseases are spreading through overcrowded camps where water supplies are unsafe. Patients with kidney disease, diabetes, or other chronic conditions face severe complications because the food and medicines they need are unavailable. Hospitals also report cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a neurological disease, that have already caused deaths among children.
The food supply inside Gaza has been largely destroyed. UN satellite analysis shows farmland razed, bombed, or left unusable. Crops and livestock that once provided food for the local population are gone, while fishing remains tightly restricted. Whatever limited supplies reach Gaza through controlled entry points are sold at inflated prices, far out of reach for most families.
Amnesty points to Israeli restrictions on humanitarian groups as a major factor in the crisis. Requests from international organizations to bring in essential supplies are often denied, and new rules could block many of them from operating in the territory altogether.
The organization says these conditions have been created and sustained by Israeli policies over the past two years. It calls for an immediate lifting of the blockade, protection for civilians, and safe access for aid groups to deliver food, medicine, and shelter.
Notes: This post was edited/created using GenAI tools. Image: DIW-Aigen.
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