Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip (AP) – A mother pressed a final kiss on what she continued to cry for the rest of her five-month-old daughter. Esraa Abu Halib’s baby weighs less than she was when she was born.
On a shattered sunny street Gazaa bundle containing Zainab Abu Halib represents Latest Death from Star Star After 21 months of war and Israeli aid restrictions.
The baby was taken to the pediatrics department at Nasser Hospital on Friday. She was already dead. Morgue workers carefully removed the Mickey Mouse print shirt and pulled it in a sunken open eye. He pulled up the hem of her pants and showed her knees. His thumb was wider than her ankles. He was able to count the bones in her breasts.
When she was born, the girl weighed more than three kilograms (6.6 pounds), her mother said. When she died, she was less than 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds).
The doctor said it was a case of “severe, serious hunger.”
She was wrapped in a white sheet for burial and placed on sandy ground for prayer. The bundle was barely wider than the Imam’s stance. He raised his open hand and called out Allah once more.
She needed a special ceremony
Zainab was one of 85 children who died of malnutrition-related causes in Gaza during the war, according to the latest toll released by the Territory Health Ministry on Saturday. He said 127 people died of malnutrition-related causes.
“She needed a special baby prescription that didn’t exist in Gaza,” Zainab’s father, Ahmed Abu Halib, told The Associated Press, preparing for a funeral prayer in the courtyard of a hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis.
Esraa Abu Halib shows journalists a photo of Zainab, a five-month-old baby who died of malnutrition-related causes, according to his family and hospital.
Pediatrics Secretary Dr. Ahmed Al Fara said the girl needed a special type of prescription to help babies allergic to milk.
He said she was not suffering from the illness, but the lack of prescription led to chronic diarrhea and vomiting. She couldn’t swallow her because weakening her immune system led to bacterial infections and sepsis, which quickly lost more weight.
“Many people follow”
The children’s families, like many Palestinians in Gaza, live in tents and are evacuated. Her mother, who suffers from malnutrition, said she breastfed the girl for just six weeks before she tried to feed her formula.
“The death of my daughter has led to many,” she said. “Their names are on a list that no one sees. They are just names and numbers. We are numbers. The children we brought for nine months and then gave birth became numbers.” Her loose robes hidden her own weight loss.
Ahmed Abu Halib and his wife Esla Abu Halib grieved the body of Zainab, a five-month-old baby who died of malnutrition-related causes, outside Nasser Hospital, Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 26th, 2025, according to the family and hospital.
The arrival of children suffering from malnutrition has skyrocketed in recent weeks, Al Fara said. His department treats approximately 60 acute malnutrition cases with a capacity of eight beds. They have additional mattresses on the ground.
Another malnutrition clinic affiliated with the hospital receives an average of 40 cases each week, he said.
“Unless intersections open and food and baby prescriptions are allowed due to this vulnerable segment of Palestinian society, we will witness an unprecedented number of deaths,” he warned.
Gaza doctors and aid workers have condemned Israel’s restrictions on aid and medical supplies entry. Food security experts have warned of hunger in territories of over 2 million.
“All shortages”
After ending its latest ceasefire in March, Israel had been aiming to completely block Gaza from invasions of food, medicines, fuel and other supplies for 2.5 months, and pressure Hamas to release hostages.
Under international pressure, Israel eased the lockdown a bit in May. Since then, the United Nations and other aid groups have been able to distribute in about 4,500 trucks, including 2,500 tons of baby food and special high-calorie foods for children, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said last week. Israel says Includes baby formulaForm for special needs.
Palestinians are struggling to get donated meals in the community kitchen in Gaza city, northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, July 26, 2025 (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
However, an average of 69 trucks per day is far below the UN’s required 500-600 trucks per day. The UN says it was unable to distribute much of the aid as it took most of it from the trucks where hungry crowds and gangs arrived.
Apart from that, Israel supported it The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation registered in the USIn May, four centers were opened and boxes of food supplies were distributed. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed The United Nations Human Rights Office has been trying to get food since May, mainly by Israeli forces while they are near these new aid sites.
Much of Gaza’s population is currently dependent on aid.
“Everything was missing,” Zainab’s mother said she was sad. “How can a girl like her recover?”
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Magiddy reported from Cairo.
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This version fixes that 85 children died of malnutrition-related causes in Gaza during the war rather than in the past three weeks.
