The first shipment of formula bottles for feeding preterm-born babies, infants, and young malnourished children is set to enter the Gaza Strip shortly, possibly as soon as Monday. It will also include meal-replacement shakes and nutritional drinks for women before or after childbirth.

This shipment cost $10,000, raised by “The Gaza Children’s Village,” an American nonprofit organization, headed by Dr. David Hasan, a senior neurosurgeon from Duke University in North Carolina. Beyond his medical career, Hasan has emerged as a driving force behind humanitarian efforts in Gaza, working to bring urgent relief to its most vulnerable residents.

“We have two projects,” Dr. Hasan explained in a Zoom interview with The Times of Israel, conducted last week from his home. “The first, and biggest, is the orphan village, where we are trying to reach approximately 20,000 children, based on the data we have. Our focus has always been, and continues to be, the most vulnerable children – orphans, unaccompanied kids, or injured children who cannot get proper medical treatment. It’s very challenging, but we’re doing our best.”

Hasan added that another central priority of the initiative is addressing the nutritional needs of premature babies, infants, and children. “For one reason or another, the population in Gaza is experiencing very limited supplies of meals. I don’t want to go into politics, but the end result is clear: there are many innocent people in Gaza who want peace with their neighbors and who do not support Hamas. I know this for a fact, because I heard it firsthand during my visits there.”

Hasan’s organization works with Israeli partners inside Israel, who are handling the product purchase and logistics. The formulas and nutritional solutions will first be delivered to World Health Organization warehouses, then distributed to Shifa, Al-Aqsa and two other hospitals that expressed interest, as well as to Deir al-Balah, where a new clinic and orphanage were established about three weeks ago.

An earlier attempt was made a few days ago to bring in the shipment, but approval had not yet been granted by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). Hasan said he hopes the approval will come through this week. But he emphasized that it is not enough to just deliver nutritional solutions.

“If I find a kid who’s malnourished and I start giving him food, there is a syndrome called refeeding syndrome. And refeeding syndrome is as fatal as starvation itself,” he explained. “We don’t want to go in, deliver a meal, pat ourselves on the shoulder, and then two or three days later the kid is struggling because of refeeding syndrome and dies.”

According to the latest update from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Gaza Strip has around 13,000 malnourished children, including 2,800 suffering from severe malnutrition. Even those who survive will suffer long-term damage. To help children and mothers survive the refeeding process, Hasan hopes to later introduce vitamins such as thiamine (B1), multivitamins, zinc, and other supplements.

Hasan said the next stage includes purchasing a peanut–based spread called Plumpy’Nut, which delivers a high number of calories relative to its package size. “It’s used in Africa, in Haiti, and in other starving countries. A small package is enough to supply a severely malnourished child with balanced nutrients and calories. We are now also moving on so as to address the older kids – not just 2 and younger, because they need the baby formulas, but also children 2 and older, maybe up to 5 or even 10,” Hasan added.

The initiative operates under the auspices of the European Pediatric Association, and includes Israeli experts such as Professor Dan Turner, head of pediatric gastroenterology at........

© The Times of Israel