‘My youngest child doesn’t know what fruit tastes like’

The PBC residents described the effects of food shortages on their bodies, after an unaccounted report A certain famine in the region For the first time.

“The declaration of starvation was too late, but it is still important,” said 41 years old, Reem Tukfak, who is a mother of Gaza City.

“We haven’t eaten any protein for five months. My youngest child is four years old – he does not know what fruits and vegetables appear or taste.”

The United Nations says Israel may strongly restrict the amount of aid that is entering Gaza, which Israel denies.

Israel also denies that there is starvation in the region, in direct contradiction with what More than 100 humanitarian groupsWitnesses say on the ground, and many United Nations bodies say.

On Friday, the classification of the non -supported integrated food security (IPC) said that there is a “fully man -made” famine in Gaza City and the surrounding areas.

She warned that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip face “catastrophic conditions” characterized by “hunger, row and death”.

Raja Taliba, 47, who is a mother of six years, said she lost 25 kg (55 pounds). She escaped from her home in the Zaitoun area in Gaza City a month ago and now lived in a temporary tent near the beach.

She suffers from gluten intolerance and she is no longer able to find food she can eat.

“Before the war, it was a charity used to help me get gluten -free products, which I could never afford,” she said.

“Since the war started, I cannot find what I need in the market, and even when I do it, I cannot bear it. Isn’t this enough to face the daily bombing, displacement and live in a tent that does not protect us from the heat of the summer or the cold in the winter – and now a famine over it?”

Reda Hujuh, 29, said that her five -year -old daughter Lamia weighed the 19 -year -old (42 kg) to 10.5 kg (23 lbs).

She said that Lamia was healthy before the war began and did not suffer from previous diseases.

“All this happened only because of the starvation,” she said.

“Simply nothing to eat the child. There are no vegetables or fruits.”

Now, Lamia suffers from swelling in her legs, thinning hair, and nerve problems.

“She cannot walk. I went to many clinics, doctors and hospitals. They all told me that my daughter suffers from malnutrition. But none of them gave me anything, not treatment, not any support.”

Mandy Blackman, the British nurse working for the Charity Foundation in the United Kingdom in Gaza, said 70 % of mothers who attend the mother’s health, and prenatal and post -birth clinics suffer from clinical malnutrition.

“Children are handed over smaller and more vulnerable as a result,” she said.

More than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its military campaign, in response to the Hamas -led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, where about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken as hostages.

Since the beginning of the war, at least 271 people have died, including 112 children, due to “starvation and malnutrition”, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Another woman, Asil, who lives in Gaza City, said: “Five months ago, I was weighing 56 kg (123 lbs). Today, only 46 kg (101 pounds).”

She said she hadn’t eaten a single piece of fruit or meat for months and spent nearly her entire savings on the basic ingredients to survive.

She has the wife of Aseel’s sister-who lives with her-she has one month old.

“She was desperately looking for the child’s formula at a reasonable price,” Aseel said.

She said that when they can find it, it costs up to 180 shekels (39 pounds) for each box.

“I have no food stock, and it is not enough until it lasts a week or two,” she added.

“Like thousands of people, we live day after day.”

Additional reports by Freia Scott Turner