In an impromptu tent on a beach in Gaza, the grandmother of Muntaha, a three -month -old baby, grinds chickpeas until you get the finest granules possible to form a paste with which to feed it, knowing that it will cause pain.
It is a desperate race to prevent the little from starving.
“If the baby could speak, he would shout and ask us what we are putting in his stomach,” said his aunt, Hamouda. Muntaha made a grimace and twisted while his grandmother managed the paste with a syringe.
Muntaha’s family is one of Gaza who face extreme decisions to be able to feed their babies, especially those under six months, who cannot digest solid foods.
Formula milk is scarce after the drastic reduction of access to humanitarian aid in Gaza. Many women cannot breastfeed due to malnutrition, while other babies have been separated from their mothers due to displacement, injuries or, as in the case of Muntaha, for death.
According to her family, Muntaha’s mother was shot during pregnancy, gave birth prematurely while she was unconscious in intensive care and died a few weeks later.
The director of the Shifa hospital described this case in a Facebook post on April 27, four days after the birth of Muntaha.
“I am terrified by the baby’s fate,” said his grandmother, Nemah Hamouda. “We put his mother’s name … hoping that he will survive and live a lot of time, but we are very afraid. We hear that children and adults starve every day.”
Muntaha now weighs about 3.5 kilograms, according to his family, just more than half of what a baby born at the end of his age would normally weigh. He suffers stomach problems such as vomiting and diarrhea after feeding.
Health officials, humanitarian workers and Gazati families informed Reuters that many families are feeding their babies with herbs and boiled tea in water, or grind bread and sesame. Humanitarian agencies have also reported cases of parents who boil leaves, consume feed or grind sand to make flour.
Pediatric health experts warn that feeding babies with premature solids can alter their nutrition, cause digestive disorders and even suffocation.
Find: Malnutrition Pavilion in Gaza Hospital reflects the consequences of famine in newborns
“It is a desperate measure to compensate for the lack of food,” said Salim Oweis, UNICEF spokesman. “When mothers cannot breastfeed or access adequate child formula, they turn to grinding chickpeas, bread, rice, anything they find … putting the health of their children at risk, since these products are not designed to feed babies.”
Exhausted children’s formula milk reserves
The growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza led the main world hunger monitoring agency to warn, on Tuesday, that a catastrophic famine is being gestated and urgent measures are required to avoid generalized death. The images of Demacred Palestinian children have shocked the world.
Gaza health authorities have reported a growing number of starvation. The total already amounts to 154 people, including 89 children, mostly deceased in recent weeks.
Given the growing international pressure for the critical situation in Gaza, Israel announced measures on the weekend to facilitate the entry of help. However, the UN World Food Program said Tuesday that it has not yet achieved the necessary permits to deliver sufficient assistance.
Israel and the United States accuse the militant group to steal the aid – something that Hamas denies – and hold the UN responsible for not avoiding it. The UN, meanwhile, claims not to have seen evidence that Hamas is diverting significant amounts. Hamas, on the other hand, accuses Israel of provoking famine and using aid as a pressure tool, an accusation that the Israeli government rejects.
Humanitarian agencies claim that in Gaza there is almost no formula milk. The few cans available in the market exceed 100 dollars, an unattainable price for families such as Muntaha, whose father is unemployed since the war forced to close his Falafel business and displaced the whole family of his home.
In the Pediatrics Room of the Hospital de los Mártires de Al-Aqsa, in the city of Deir Al-Balah, in Center of Gaza, children’s formula reserves are practically exhausted.
A mother showed how a thick tahini and sesame paste poured in a bottle and mixed it with water.
“I am using this instead of milk, to compensate for her absence, but she doesn’t drink it,” said Azhar Imad, 31, Joury’s mother, a four -month -old baby.
“I also give Fenogreco, anise, Alcaravea, all kinds of herbs mixed with water,” he said, visibly distressed, describing how these attempts, far from feeding their daughter, are getting sick.
Hospital’s medical staff expressed impotence to see how children’s health deteriorates without being able to provide safe nutrition.
“Now children are fed with water or grinding hard legumes, and this is harmful to them,” said Dr. Khalil Daqran.
“If hunger continues … within three or four days, if a child does not receive milk immediately, he will die,” he warned.
With Reuters information
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