The mothers, children suffering Israel’s engineered starvation in Gaza

Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Every morning for Israa Abu Reyala and her husband, Mohammad, is a battle to find decent food for their five daughters, the youngest three of whom are triplets born during the war.

The ceasefire agreement, which took effect about a month ago, has made little difference in the family’s daily life, Israa, 31, and Mohammad, 33, told media.

“The war was a nightmare,” Israa says as she feeds her little ones in her parents’ home in Deir el-Balah. “But the hardest part by far has been finding food, milk, and supplies for my three babies.”

Israa learned she was pregnant with triplets two months before the war.

“We were planning for a third child, not three at once,” she laughs, exchanging a look with her husband.

Their concerns at the time – about income, rent, and how to manage three infants – feel like paradise now compared to what they lived through during the pregnancy and birth, they say.

‘I’m worried’

Israa says her triplets, who are now 19 months old, don’t even know what an egg looks – much less tastes – like. They’ve eaten chicken a few times, but only when sharing meals with extended family.

The couple had high hopes for the ceasefire that ostensibly ended Israel’s war on Gaza and stipulated that Israel would allow food and aid supplies to enter the beleaguered enclave.

But instead of more and higher-quality food entering Gaza, they found little of nutritional value.

Mohammad says the markets are “stuffed with commercial goods” like biscuits, chocolate, candy, snacks, nuts, and canned foods, with few fruits and vegetables that enter at prices many can’t afford.

“But what about the quality? What about proper food? And the prices are insane,” he adds.

“Where are the eggs? Where is meat and poultry? Fresh dairy and cheese? Everything healthy, nutritious, or essential for children doesn’t exist, and if it does, it’s in tiny quantities and disappears instantly,” Israa says.

Humanitarian officials call the state Israel has imposed on Gaza since it launched its genocidal war on it in October 2023, engineered starvation – a policy aimed at weakening the population physically and psychologically until society collapses from within.

Dr Khalil al-Degran, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told media that Israel has not adhered to humanitarian protocols requiring the entry of food and medical aid into Gaza, with quantities entering now “only 15 to 20 percent of actual needs”.

He adds that the products Israel allows in are nonessentials, like chips and instant noodles, which lack vital nutrients.

Markets remain empty of meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs, and most protein and fat sources, he says, calling it “clear engineered starvation”.

Israa says her girls are getting more to eat now, but she still worries because of the severe lack of nutritious food.

“I’m worried about my health, too,” she says. “I did lab tests last month and the specialist told me I’m in the early stages of malnutrition.”

A premature birth

Ten-year-old Toleen says she will never forget the tanks and Israeli soldiers she had to walk past with her parents, hands up in the air, holding white flags.

She and her six-year-old sister, Jana, had fled with their parents from one displacement shelter to another for weeks before they fled south on foot through what Israel called “the safe corridor”.

They tried to stay in the north, leaving their home in Shati refugee camp for a UNRWA school in al-Nasr – but Israeli tanks kept advancing, and the family had to keep fleeing.

So one day in November 2023, they headed south to Israa’s parents’ home in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, where she spent the rest of her pregnancy and delivery, struggling with malnutrition and the fear of Israeli bombs.

They stayed there until a ceasefire in January this year, when they went back to Gaza City, only to be caught by a famine caused by Israel’s blocking of the entry of all aid supplies.

On March 28, 2024, two weeks before her scheduled caesarean section, she was woken up at night by labour pains, but the war was raging, with intense Israeli bombardment in nearby Nuseirat.

Moving at night was dangerous, and they had to call the ambulance service repeatedly, telling them they were expecting triplets, before Israa was taken to al-Awda Hospital for an emergency c-section.

Her daughters, Keraz, Kifah, and Jumana were born, one weighing two kilogrammes (4.4 pounds) and two weighing in at 1.9 kilogrammes (4.2 pounds), well within the average for healthy triplets.

“Giving birth to healthy babies in a war felt like a miracle,” she says.

Dr al-Degran says most pregnant and breastfeeding women face acute anaemia caused by a lack of food and supplements, with many giving birth prematurely or miscarrying.

Once home, the struggle to find baby formula, diapers, and clothes for the newborns began.

The triplets needed about one can of formula per day, which their severely malnourished mother had to supplement by breastfeeding them. Her health collapsed.

“My body was exhausted and hungry,” Israa says.

“These three … I cried as they cried from hunger,” she says, looking at her triplets playing nearby.

“‘Nanna, nanna, nanna,’ that’s the sound they made asking for food, day and night. I can still hear it.”

Israa and her husband spiralled.

“I used to escape into the street from my babies’ screams, walking aimlessly, crying for hours,” she says.

Damage that may be irreversible

Al-Degran says Gaza has suffered chronic malnutrition throughout Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave.

He warns that even if essential foods were allowed in today, the damage done to children, especially infants, has already left long-term physical and cognitive consequences.

Israa’s daily struggle continues, as she divides a single bite of food into three portions for her three infants.

“This piece for one, this for the second, and this for the third … just so they quiet down a little. But then they start crying again. They don’t understand. They’re just hungry.”

Israa and Mohammad remain grateful for what little they have, though Israa cannot hide her heartbreak over Toleen and Jana, who she says have endured hunger and still tried to help her care for the babies.

The family’s only wish now is simple: “To see a semblance of a normal life again,” Israa says.

“Open crossings. Food. Supplies. Aid.

“We’ve had enough. We’ve seen enough.”