Starvation crisis in Gaza: Hospitals struggle as babies die, medical staff collapse from hunger

Starvation is silently devastating Gaza as the humanitarian crisis deepens with every passing day. Hospitals struggle to care for patients and newborns amid crippling shortages of food, medical supplies, and vital nutrients.

Nurses faint from hunger, doctors face impossible choices, and infants are given only water to survive. With a blockade choking aid deliveries and food prices soaring, Gaza’s most vulnerable, especially children and mothers, are paying the highest price in what experts call a deliberate weaponization of starvation, the NYT reported.Hospitals on the brink: Staff fainting, formula running outIn Gaza’s few remaining hospitals, a grim scene unfolds: nurses fainting from hunger and dehydration, patients and staff going without meals, and doctors running out of life-saving formula and nutritional fluids.

Newborns are sometimes given only water, a deadly stopgap.Critical shortages: IV fluids and malnourished infantsAt least three major hospitals lack the intravenous fluids necessary to treat malnourished children and adults. Doctors describe helplessly managing the decline of starving infants, unable to safely flood their weakened bodies with nutrients without risking fatal complications.Doctors speak out: ‘Man-made starvation’ as a weapon“I have seen babies brought in starving and malnourished, unable to be saved,” Dr Ambereen Sleemi, an American surgeon volunteering in Gaza, was quoted by the NYT as saying.

British volunteer Dr Nick Maynard called it “man-made starvation”, a weapon of war that will claim countless more lives unless aid reaches Gaza immediately.Starvation deaths surge amid warStarvation deaths have surged in recent weeks, with 56 Palestinians dying of hunger just this month alone, nearly half of all such deaths since the war began 22 months ago, according to Gaza’s health ministry.Medical staff collapsing amid shortagesMedical staff, already stretched thin treating war wounds, now collapse in operating rooms and wards due to severe malnutrition and exhaustion.

Hospitals face desperate shortages of antibiotics, painkillers, and special feeding drips.Blockade chokes aid, puts lives at riskThe crisis is driven by a months-long blockade on aid imposed by Israel, which has severely restricted food and medical supplies entering Gaza. While some aid now trickles in, distribution is controlled by Israeli-backed contractors and limited to a few sites far from many Palestinians, forcing people to risk deadly military fire just to reach food.Infants and mothers starving: The deadly toll“The immediate cause of death for many infants is simple: They do not get enough to eat, and neither do their mothers,” said Dr Hani al-Faleet, pediatric consultant at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.Starvation triggers other health crisesStarvation also worsens other conditions. Malnourished mothers suffer miscarriages and premature births; babies born too weak to survive; and infections and immune collapse rise sharply.Astronomical food prices push families to the edgeFood prices in Gaza have skyrocketed, a kilogram of flour costs up to $30, tomatoes and rice nearly as much, making even basic sustenance unaffordable for most.Israel defends blockade, critics call it a ‘blockade on life’Israel defends its blockade and new aid system as necessary to prevent Hamas from diverting supplies. However, humanitarians and many doctors reject this claim, calling it a blockade on life.Staff burden ‘immense’ as malnutrition hits medical teamsDr Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza’s largest hospital, said the burden on medical staff is “immense,” with some fainting in emergency wards due to lack of food.A mother’s struggle: Baby salam’s fight for lifeThe story of baby Salam Barghouth, three months old and severely malnourished, epitomizes the crisis.

Her mother, Hanin, is too weak to leave home, and formula costs $120 a container, out of reach for most. Salam was born during war and now fights for survival amid starvation.More children suffer in silence: Yazan’s storyElsewhere in Gaza, children like two-year-old Yazan Abu al-Foul suffer in silence, denied inpatient care due to equipment shortages. His family cannot feed him adequately.Doctors’ warning: Urgent action needed to prevent more deathsDoctors warn: without urgent international intervention, more children and adults will die, victims of a slow-moving famine in one of the world’s most embattled regions.