Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

[SvennoJ]

Palestinian mother describes ‘indescribable pain’ of losing baby to hunger

The Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has shared testimonials from women in Gaza struggling to survive under Israel’s “starvation policy”.

Aya al-Iskafi, 21, described how her newborn baby girl, Jenan, died because of Israel’s refusal to allow any food, water or humanitarian supplies into the enclave since early March.

The baby, who was born in late December of last year, suffered from dehydration and saw her weight drop to 2.8kg (six pounds) at three months old.

“Doctors had to supplement her breastfeeding with formula milk, but formula was also severely limited due to the ongoing siege. We stayed for 14 days at al-Rantisi Hospital, where my daughter could not breastfeed and relied only on IV fluids,” al-Iskafi told PCHR.

By the start of May, Jenan was suffering from chronic diarrhoea but could not get the medical care she needed in Gaza because of the lack of supplies. “She was in severe pain in front of me while I was helpless and unable to help her or alleviate her pain,” her mother said.

“My heart was breaking but I couldn’t do anything given the lack of resources and harsh conditions. On May 3, my daughter died of hunger. Saying goodbye to her was an indescribable pain, and everything she endured continues to torment me every moment of my life.”


This hits hard. My grandmother lost her first born child to malnutrition in a Japanese prison camp during WW2. My mother was her 2nd child born after the war. My grandmother never really recovered from the loss which resulted in a dysfunctional family that also affected my childhood. My mother chose to work with refugees though and children with difficulties, helping others dealing with injustice and trauma. Sadly her own family never healed and grew apart.

It will take many generations to heal from this genocide.