From Associated Press News
At Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, the small, skeletal body of 2½-year-old Ro’a Mashi lay on a table, her ribs and arms sharply defined, her eyes sunken. Doctors say she had no prior health issues—only the slow, devastating effects of months without enough food or medical care.
Her family shared a photo of Ro’a with The Associated Press, confirmed by the doctor who received her remains. Days later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told local media: “There is no hunger. There was no hunger. There was a shortage, and there was certainly no policy of starvation.” He dismissed reports of famine as “lies” spread by Hamas.
The U.N., however, paints a different picture. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric warned this week that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their worst since the war began. Nearly 12,000 children under five were recorded as acutely malnourished in July, including more than 2,500 in the most dangerous stage, according to U.N. figures—numbers the World Health Organization believes are likely underestimated.
For 2½ months, Israel halted food, medicine, and supplies, saying it was pressuring Hamas to release hostages from the 2023 attack. In recent weeks, Israel has tripled the amount of food entering Gaza, easing prices for some, though costs remain far above prewar levels. Experts warn this will not save the thousands of children already critically malnourished, who require specialized hospital care to avoid “refeeding syndrome,” a potentially fatal reaction to sudden food intake.
This fragile improvement is now threatened by Netanyahu’s planned offensive on Gaza City and surrounding refugee camps, which aid agencies say would trigger mass displacement and disrupt already fragile food distribution.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says 42 children and 129 adults have died from malnutrition-related causes since July 1, with 106 children lost over the course of the war. While Israel’s military claims some deaths were due to preexisting conditions, Gaza doctors argue such conditions are survivable with steady food and medical care.
In Nasser Hospital’s pediatric ward, Dr. Yasser Abu Ghali recalled treating 5-year-old Jamal al-Najjar, who suffered from rickets and died Tuesday after his weight dropped from 16 to 7 kilograms. “Of course there’s famine,” Jamal’s father said, pointing to his son’s protruding ribs.
Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, the hospital’s pediatric director, said they now see 10–20 severely malnourished children a day, with numbers rising. One, 2-year-old Shamm Qudeih—possibly suffering from glycogen storage disease—was granted medical evacuation to Italy this week after a year-long wait.
Ro’a’s family, displaced multiple times by fighting, survived on one meal a day, often boiled macaroni. Each move disrupted her treatment. Two weeks ago, they settled in the Muwasi tent camps on Gaza’s southern coast, where her condition rapidly worsened.
Her mother, Fatma Mashi, said she knew the end was near: “I could tell it was only a matter of two or three more days.”
