DaysofPal- In a heartbreaking tragedy reflecting the scale of the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, infant Sana’a Al-Lahham has died from severe malnutrition caused by the ongoing Israeli blockade that prevents the entry of food and medical supplies, including baby formula and essential nutritional supplements.
Medical sources confirmed that Sana’a’s case is not isolated but part of a worsening wave of wasting and dehydration among infants and children in Gaza. Reports indicate that hundreds of critical cases are recorded daily in hospitals struggling to provide even minimal care amid catastrophic shortages of supplies.
In a new warning, Gaza’s Ministry of Health sounded the alarm, noting a troubling rise in the number of Palestinians arriving at hospitals suffering from severe hunger and extreme exhaustion.
This warning came just days after the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced that one in every ten children examined in its clinics suffers from malnutrition.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated that the continued Israeli blockade preventing aid from entering Gaza has caused a “severe shortage of nutritional supplies,” describing the situation as a “man-made disaster.”
UNRWA’s Communications Director, Juliet Tuma, added: “Medications, nutritional supplies, hygiene materials, and fuel, all of it—are rapidly running out.”
She also quoted a nurse who said, “Previously, we only saw such malnutrition cases in textbooks and documentaries.”
Breastfeeding mothers are also suffering from severe malnutrition, leading to a significant decline in natural milk production. At the same time, the occupation forces continue to block the entry of baby formula and nutritional supplements despite repeated international warnings.
Dr. Youssef Mansour, a pediatrician at Al-Nasr Hospital, said: “We are witnessing children dying, not from incurable diseases, but because they are deprived of food. This is slow, deliberate killing that violates all humanitarian laws.”
Under these circumstances, hospitals are experiencing a near-total collapse in operational capacity, with exhausted medical teams struggling helplessly as cases surge and no signs of imminent humanitarian relief.
Amid all this, the grave of infant Sana’a Al-Lahham has become a stark symbol of a grim chapter of suffering in Gaza, where a silent war is waged against children and infants, not only with weapons but with starvation and deprivation.
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