Starvation in Gaza: Why Children Are Dying Faster | Al Ihsan Foundation

Children are dying of hunger in Gaza, not just slowly, but deliberately. Their smaller bodies mean they starve faster than adults. With each day without food, their bodies break down muscle, organs, even the brain. This is what starvation really looks like, and why we must act now.

We see children in Gaza, bones visible beneath skin, too weak to cry, already in the final stages of starvation. A child without food can die within two weeks. Children burn through energy much faster than adults. Their organs and brains are still developing, requiring constant nourishment. Without food, their bodies quickly run out of reserves. And when that happens, they start breaking down muscle, even organ tissue, just to stay alive. Over 93 children have died from starvation-related causes in recent months. At least 82 adults have also died from hunger. This is not solely due to scarcity, but also to man-made deprivation enforced by policies that block food and aid. Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British Palestinian surgeon who spent 43 days operating in Gaza, explained:

Here's what happens when the body is starved: Children don't have enough muscle to survive this phase. Their immune system collapses. Wounds don't heal. Infections that could be treated easily turn deadly. What you see next is heartbreaking: Eventually, it's heart failure, infection, or both.

It's not just about food. It's about what the body needs to survive. And children need a lot more per kilogram than adults. That's why they die faster. Overall, 127 people have already died of starvation in Gaza, including 93 children. These deaths result from policies imposing man-made malnutrition on the Palestinian population. And even those who survive starvation will carry the damage forever: Generational harm. That's what's happening.

What makes this so unbearable? This hunger was imposed. Since March 2024, the occupying forces have blocked food aid, bombed farmland, and destroyed bakeries. Families are now down to a spoonful of calories a day - if they find. This is the most horrific way to kill. Starvation is slow. It's cruel, and it's deliberate.

With every vegetable pack or hot meal you send, you're not just feeding a body. You're rescuing a life from one of the most painful forms of death imaginable. You're helping stop the progression from hunger to starvation. From life to death, in shaa Allah.

This is how you respond to starvation: with food, with mercy, and with urgent action. Every moment matters, lives depend on what we choose to do right now. Let us stand together and be the reason a child survives.