‘My youngest child doesn’t know what fruit tastes like’

Residents of the Gaza Strip have described to the BBC the effects of severe hunger on their bodies, after a UN-backed report confirmed famine in parts of the territory for the first time.

Reem Tawfiq Khader, 41, a mother of five from Gaza City, said: “The declaration of famine came too late, but it is still important.

“We haven’t eaten any protein for five months. My youngest child is four years old – he doesn’t know what fruit and vegetables look or taste like.”

The UN says Israel has heavily restricted the amount of aid entering Gaza, which Israel denies.

Israel also denies there is starvation in the territory, in direct contradiction to what more than 100 humanitarian groups, witnesses on the ground, and multiple UN bodies say.

On Friday, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said there was an “entirely man-made” famine in Gaza City and its surrounding areas.

It warned that more than half a million people across the Gaza Strip were facing “catastrophic” conditions characterised by “starvation, destitution and death”.

Rajaa Talbeh, 47, a mother of six, said she had lost 25kg (55lbs) in weight. She fled her home in Gaza City’s Zeitoun district a month ago and now lives in a makeshift tent near the beach.

She suffers from gluten intolerance and said she could no longer find food she could eat.

“Before the war, a charity used to help me get gluten-free products, which I could never afford myself,” she said.

“Since the war began, I can’t find what I need in the market, and even when I do, I can’t afford it. Isn’t it enough to face daily bombardment, displacement and living in a tent that shields us neither from the heat of summer nor the cold of winter – and now famine on top of it?”

Rida Hijeh, 29, said her five-year-old daughter Lamia’s weight had dropped from 19kg (42lbs) to 10.5kg (23lbs).

She said Lamia was healthy before the war began and had no prior illnesses.

“This all happened only because of the famine,” she said.

“There is simply nothing for the child to eat. There are no vegetables, no fruits.”

Now, Lamia suffers from swelling in her legs, thinning hair, and nerve problems, she said.

“She cannot walk. I went to many clinics, doctors, and hospitals. They all told me my daughter is suffering from malnutrition. But none of them gave me anything, not treatment, not any support.”

Mandy Blackman, a British nurse working for the charity UK-Med in Gaza, said 70% of mothers attending their maternal health, ante-natal and post-natal clinics had clinical malnutrition.

“Babies are delivered smaller and more vulnerable as a result,” she said.

More than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its military campaign, in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Since the start of the war, at least 271 people, including 112 children, have died of “famine and malnutrition”, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Another woman, Aseel, who lives in Gaza City, said: “Five months ago, I weighed 56kg (123lbs). Today, I weigh only 46kg (101lbs).”

She said she hadn’t eaten a single piece of fruit or meat in months and had spent nearly her entire savings on basic ingredients to survive.

Aseel’s sister-in-law – who she lives with – has a one-month-old baby.

“She’s been desperately searching for baby formula at a reasonable price,” Aseel said.

She said that when they can find it, it costs as much as 180 shekels (£39) per can.

“I have no food stockpile, not even enough to last a week or two,” she added.

“Like thousands of people, we live day by day.”

Additional reporting by Freya Scott-Turner