In Gaza’s main pediatric hospital, 9-month-old Khaled lies painfully underweight and dehydrated, his tiny body fed through a tube as his mother watches, helpless. At just 11 pounds, half the healthy weight for his age, he is one of countless children suffering from severe malnutrition as Israel’s blockade continues into a third month.
His mother, Wedad Abdelaal, says doctors are doing what they can. Khaled is given bottled milk every few hours, but supplies are so limited that even the hospital can’t provide enough.
“I wish they would give it to us every hour,” she says. “He waits for it impatiently but they too are short on supplies.”
Outside the hospital, her other children sit hungry in a tent, with no food and no end in sight. Aid groups have warned for weeks that Gaza is nearing famine, and families like Abdelaal’s are living the reality.
With crossings largely closed and aid blocked or restricted, Gaza’s humanitarian crisis deepens daily. For Khaled and thousands like him, survival now depends on both medical care and whether the outside world acts before it’s too late.
