Tel Aviv [Israel], July 31: On the pink walls of Nasser hospital's child malnutrition ward, cartoon drawings show children running, smiling, and playing with flowers and balloons.
Beneath the pictures, a handful of Gazan mothers watch over their babies who lie still and largely silent, mostly too exhausted by severe hunger to cry.
The quiet is common in places treating the most acutely malnourished, doctors told Reuters, a sign of bodies shutting down.
"She is always lethargic, lying down, like this. you do not find her responsive," said Zeina Radwan, mother of 10-month-old Maria Suhaib Radwan. She has not been able to find milk or enough food for her baby, and cannot breastfeed as she herself is underfed, surviving on one meal a day.
"My children and I cannot live without nutrition." Over the last week, Reuters journalists spent five days in Nasser Medical Complex, one of only four centres left in Gaza able to treat the most dangerously hungry children. While Reuters was there, 53 cases of acutely malnourished children were admitted, according to the head of the ward.
Gaza's food stocks have been running out since Israel, at war with Palestinian militant group Hamas since October 2023, cut off all supplies to the territory in March. That blockade was lifted in May but with restrictions that Israel says are needed to prevent aid being diverted to militant groups.
In response to a request for comment, COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said Israel does not restrict aid trucks entering Gaza, but that international organisations face challenges collecting aid inside Gaza.
The Israeli military, it said, regularly facilitates the provision of medical services through aid organizations and the international community, with whom it works to meet the needs of Gaza's hospitals.
As food stocks ran out, the situation escalated in June and July, with the World Health Organization warning of mass starvation and images of emaciated children shocking the world.
The Gaza Health Ministry says 154 people, including 89 children, have died of malnutrition, most in recent weeks.
A global hunger monitor said on Tuesday that a famine scenario is unfolding.
Israel says it has no aim to starve Gaza. This week it announced steps to allow more aid in, including pausing fighting in some locations, air dropping food and offering more secure routes.
The United Nations said the scale of what is needed is vast in order to stave off famine and avert a health crisis.
"We need milk for babies. We need medical supplies. We need some food, special food for nutritional department," said Dr Ahmed al-Farra, head of the paediatric and maternity department in Nasser Medical Complex. "We need everything for the hospitals."
Israeli officials say many of those who died while malnourished in Gaza were suffering from pre-existing illnesses.
Famine experts say this is typical in the early stages of a hunger crisis.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
