Persistent Food Crisis Deepens amidst Third-Month-Long Israeli Blockade of Gaza
Gaza Strippers are fighting over the last remnants of food, desperate mothers are struggling to produce milk for their barely-there babies, and doctors are preparing for the grim days when mass starvation will unfold.
"In a week, we'll see full-blown starvation," Dr. Ahmad Al-Farra, head of pediatrics and obstetrics at Nasser Hospital, told NBC News.
The besieged territory has been under a suffocating blockade of humanitarian aid since the conflict ignited on Oct. 7, 2023, with Israel's total ban on the entry of all goods, including food, fuel, and medical supplies now entering its third successive month. Despite global outrage, Israel has stubbornly kept the gates shut for 63 days and County's security Cabinet is scheduled to vote on Sunday night to "ramp up" its offensive in Gaza.
For weeks, families have been surviving on next to nothing - fewer meals, smaller spoonfuls - and each day brings a new low of deprivation.
Parents are force-fed to watch their vulnerable children waste away, with warehouses now empty and community kitchens forced to close. In a place where 80% of the population relies on aid, according to the United Nations, those aid agencies no longer have much to offer. What little food remains in the markets is sold at prices that only the wealthy can afford.
Ossama Al-Raqab lay in the pediatric ward of Nasser Hospital, barely able to lift his gaunt head. The 5-year-old suffers from cystic fibrosis and, due to starvation, he's barely more than skin and bones. His facial muscles have wasted away, leaving him unable to close his mouth.
"Mommy, Mommy, I want to go back," he whimpers, unable to speak for long.
His mother, Mona Al-Raqab, sits next to him, showing a picture of her son when he was healthy and smiling. "He needs food and food that contains protein and fat," she says. "But these things are not available now, and if they are, they are expensive."
Little Ossama is just one of the countless children already suffering from malnutrition. Doctors like Al-Farra have been warning for months that the hunger will eventually lead to death. Unfortunately, that day has come.
"We are expecting 57 deaths from starvation for pediatrics," Al-Farra told NBC News, adding that the number of cases is expected to rise and the severity of those cases will increase. "We are talking about increased cases of malnutrition and anemia."
More than 52,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, local health officials say. About 1,200 were killed in Israel, with 250 taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 attacks, led by Hamas.
Israel imposed the current blockade on March 2 after it ended a two-month ceasefire and resumed its military operations. Justifying the blockade as necessary for pressuring Hamas into releasing the hostages, Israel has been accused of violating international humanitarian law by using starvation as a weapon of war. The total siege's resumption has resulted in a sharp increase in acute malnutrition among children.
As thousands of people starve, the Israeli government is merely throwing fuel on the flames by trying to expand its offensive in Gaza. Where once families had homes, food, clean water, and medical supplies, now they have nothing but misery and desperation.
Starvation begins with the most vulnerable, and newborns and children already suffering from other health issues are especially at risk.
Siwar Ashour, a 5-month-old child from Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, has lost half her weight. "I can't even afford milk," Ashour's mother, Najwa Aram, 23, told NBC News. Ashour said her daughter first contracted intestinal flu, which worsened with the lack of clean water and food.
"Every day his condition worsens," Al-Raqab says, looking at her son, Ossama, who barely seems to be alive. "I want him to be like a normal child, play with children and go out and finish kindergarten."
References:[1] "Fact Sheet: Gaza Strip Mobile Health Clinic Program," UNRWA, April 7, 2025.[2] "Gaza's healthcare system in critical condition following 63 days of Israeli blockade," Middle East Monitor, May 5, 2025.
- Gaza Strippers, currently surviving on minimal food, are despairingly faced with the depletion of their last food remnants.
- The severe blockade, initiated on October 7, 2023, by Israel, has resulted in the total ban on the entry of all goods, including food, fuel, and medical supplies, causing the situation to worsen for the third successive month.
- Empty warehouses and closed community kitchens have forced families to contend with a lack of nutrition, particularly protein and fat, which are essential for maintaining health and combating chronic diseases.
- The exorbitant prices of the limited food left in the markets have rendered it unattainable for most Gaza residents, thus expanding the wealth gap.
- As the pediatric ward of Nasser Hospital, Dr. Ahmad Al-Farra foresees the augury of 57 deaths due to starvation in the coming days, with the increase in malnutrition and anemia cases.
- The ongoing politics and war-and-conflicts have turned the once stable environment of Gaza into a desperate landscape of medical-conditions, chronic-diseases, and fitness-and-exercise concerns due to lack of nutrition.
- In a desperate plea for help, Najwa Aram, a 23-year-old mother, implores for solutions to provide her daughter, Siwar Ashour, with milk and nutrition, as she has already lost half her weight due to the impact of war-and-conflicts and the shortage of clean water and food.
