In Gaza’s clinics and overwhelmed hospitals, doctors and nutritionists face a haunting, daily reality: children wasting away before their eyes, unable to stand and play, who can hardly breathe.

Israeli troops are massacring people at food distribution sites every day. On Tuesday alone, soldiers killed at least 70 people and wounded hundreds seeking food at the distribution site set up by Israel and the U.S. They shot people with tank shells, drones, and machine guns as they tried to get food.

Malnutrition is no longer a looming threat; it is a full-blown humanitarian emergency exacerbated by relentless genocide, siege, and the systematic breakdown of Gaza’s health care infrastructure.

As the genocide on Gaza grinds on after Israel’s breaking of the ceasefire, doctors and mothers across the Strip describe an unfolding catastrophe: a severe and accelerating child malnutrition crisis that, left unchecked, could claim thousands of lives.

Israel’s 80-day blockade that has enforced a strict closure of crossings and blocked aid deliveries has resulted in nearly 330 deaths, most of them children.

To learn how malnutrition is affecting the children of Gaza, I spoke to three nutritionist doctors and one mother struggling to feed her baby in Gaza.

Batoul Abu Ali gave birth to her daughter, Eleen Hallak, on May 21, 2024, amid the chaos of war. Now just over a year old, Eleen is already showing signs of malnutrition.

“She used to be healthier,” Batoul says. “Now her diet lacks fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy — everything a child needs. I can only feed her twice a day: maybe some tomato, zucchini, potato, lentils, or fortified biscuits.” Batoul struggles most with finding milk........

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