GAZA: Fear and anxiety are gripping Palestinian mothers these days as they witness the plight of their children, who are suffering from severe malnutrition, disease, and lack of medical treatment due to the ongoing Israeli blockade and aggression on the Gaza Strip for 175 days.

Some of these children lie in Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, their health deteriorating rapidly as their weight plummets amid scarce food, water, and medicine supplies.

On one hospital bed lies Jana Ayad (8 years old), in extremely poor health due to widespread malnutrition in northern Gaza, exacerbated by the occupation’s blockade preventing aid from entering.

Beside her hospital bed, Jana’s mother accompanies her, feeling helpless in providing any assistance to her daughter amidst the repercussions of this aggression.

“The conditions my daughter is enduring due to food shortages have led to severe malnutrition and deficiencies in vitamins, proteins, and calcium in her body,” the mother tells Anad
olu Agency, her voice trembling with pain. “My daughter’s body has become weak, and she has lost a significant amount of weight in recent days.”

Recalling her daughter’s condition before the war, the mother points out that Jana “used to be active, play, and interact with others without any health complaints, but today she suffers in bed, unable to move and struggling to speak.”

She hopes that her daughter can leave Gaza to receive necessary treatment after the Israeli aggression caused extensive damage to hospitals and medical supplies.

Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling have rendered 32 hospitals and 53 health centers across the beleaguered enclave out of service, in addition to targeting 155 health facilities.

Lung disease

Like Jana’s mother, the mother of 11-year-old Noor Al-Huda Mohammed fears losing her daughter’s life amidst the remaining hospitals’ shortages of treatment and food, especially in northern Gaza.

“My daughter suffers from lung disease (yet to be diagnosed) and a low blood coun
t, along with malnutrition, which negatively affects her life,” the mother tells Anadolu Agency. “Every day, my daughter’s condition worsens due to the lack of food and treatment in Gaza.”

The mother wishes for the necessary treatment and healthy food for her daughter, and permission for her to leave Gaza to receive the necessary medical care.

As the lives of Jana, Noor Al-Huda, and others hang in the balance, Israel’s aggression in its war on the Gaza Strip has claimed the lives of more than 13,000 children, among tens of thousands of civilian casualties, alongside a famine that has claimed the lives of children and the elderly, according to Palestinian and UN data.

Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA