Doctors in Gaza: Mothers have no milk to feed their babies

2024-03-16 18:05:54, Kosova & Bota CNA

The United Nations says at least 20 children in Gaza have died of starvation, and doctors say a growing number are suffering from serious physical and mental illnesses. VOA correspondents from Istanbul and Rafah in the Gaza Strip prepared the material.

Children in Gaza have not been able to go to school since the war between Israel and Hamas began, but parents say this is currently the least of the problems they face.

According to United Nations data, over 12,000 children have died during the war and another 20 from starvation in recent weeks. More than 17,000 others have lost or been separated from their parents.

Almost all the children in Gaza have been forced to flee their homes, and parents say that even those children among them who have been given extra care are traumatized.

"My son is always awake at night, crying. He tells me that he misses his father, that he wants to come home. He tells me that he wants to live a normal life like we had," says Hekmat Almasri, a mother in Gaza.

Most of Gaza's 2 million people are now sheltering in shelters in Rafah, near the border with Egypt. In this hospital, pediatricians say that every child they examine is suffering from some psychological or physical trauma and from the consequences of starvation.

"Every one of them has a growth retardation. Everyone is sick. Even the mothers do not have milk to feed the babies. They say that they are unable to get milk and cannot afford to buy it," says Dr. Saeed Abdulrahman Mahmour Marouf.

Some children, he says, can identify bombs, airplanes and which of their family members and neighbors have died.

"Some children cry and hold on to their parents almost all the time. Many of them start hallucinating."

But there are still children hoping to be reunited with their loved ones.

"I want to go back home," says Abed Alrazeq Almasri, 12 years old.

Parents say their hearts are breaking as they watch their children suffer.

"Mothers cannot answer children's questions. They cannot meet their needs, not even for food. Children ask for meat, or fish, or chocolate and sweets that they once ate. But now we can't provide them," says Hekmat Almasri, a mother in Gaza.

Israel says it has placed no limits on the amount of aid that can enter Gaza, although it insists it inspects all shipments to ensure no weapons are being transported to Hamas.

Israel also accuses Hamas of repurposing the aid to use it for its own members. But Amnesty International accuses the Israeli army of implementing severe restrictions on the entry of aid into the territory.

The United Nations says people are threatened with widespread starvation if the process of getting aid into Gaza is not radically improved. According to them, efforts to introduce aid by air or sea are welcome, but they cannot replace the large flow of aid that should be done by land route./ VOA