{"id":16590,"date":"2025-08-11T14:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T18:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?p=16590"},"modified":"2025-08-11T14:58:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T18:58:13","slug":"at-deaths-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/at-deaths-door\/","title":{"rendered":"At Death\u2019s Door"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The streets of Gaza are quieter than they used to be \u2014 not because peace has returned. The deep silence of hunger has replaced the noise of daily life. Every corner bears the marks of a deepening humanitarian catastrophe: gaunt faces of children, long lines at makeshift aid points and parents who have nothing left to give but words of comfort and prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The humanitarian collapse in Gaza did not happen overnight<\/a>. On 2 March 2025, the Israeli Defense Forces sealed all crossings into the enclave \u2014 16 days before the collapse of the temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. With borders sealed, the already limited flow of food, medicine and fuel stopped entirely. Within weeks, hunger and malnutrition spread at an unprecedented pace. Preventable diseases began to take hold. By early August, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza reported 201 people had died from famine and malnutrition since the start of the war, including 98 children. Those numbers rise daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the middle of Gaza City, amid rubble and market stalls selling a handful of overpriced simple popular sweets, 35-year-old Ahmed Al-Sawafiri describes the reality of survival:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOut of poverty, we have children we want to feed \u2014 nothing more or less,\u201d he says. \u201cThe situation in general is really difficult, really tragic, and we hope from God things get better.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunger, he adds, is now part of everyday life. \u201cThe famine is great; children sometimes sleep without eating. What can we do? We just need to get by. It\u2019s all in God\u2019s will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Mr. Al-Sawafiri, faith is both a comfort and a lifeline. \u201cHopefully for the better,\u201d he says, glancing at the street around him. \u201cWe ask God that things get better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few steps away, a boy in a small stall, barely tall enough to see over the market crowd, spends his days trying to earn enough to support his eight siblings, \u201cso we can eat and live, and feed my little siblings.\u201d Abdul Rahman Barghouth, 12, dreams of school, but for now his hope is that \u201cthe war ends, and prices go down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Many
Families wait in line for safe drinking water that, as with everything else in Gaza, is increasingly rare. (photo: Diaa Ostaz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Faith runs through these conversations as naturally as breath. People speak of God\u2019s will even as they recount the impossible choices they face, whether to send a child to line up for aid despite the risk of shelling, whether to sell the last piece of jewelry for a bag of rice, whether to skip their own meal so a child can eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 54-year-old Mozayal Hassouna, those choices leave deep emotional scars. \u201cSome days we spent four days without bread,\u201d she says. \u201cMy youngest son tells me, \u2018You let me go to sleep hungry, Mom.\u2019 But I can\u2019t provide anything. My husband is 65 and sick; he can\u2019t run after trucks for aid. We lost our stall in the market; our house was bombed like others. We have no income, nothing left to sell, but we do not object to God\u2019s will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her son has developed a stutter, which a doctor says is the result of trauma from bombardment. Now they live in a tent, displaced for two months. \u201cI hope the war ends all over Gaza,\u201d she says. \u201cLet us live, and the children live a little.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No story captures the cruel intersection of war, siege and hunger clearer than that of 2-year-old Muhammad Al-Mutawaq. His mother, Hidaya, has been displaced seven times since the war began. Her husband was killed early in the conflict in Jabalia, leaving her alone with four children. Before the recent escalation, Muhammad weighed 20 pounds. Today, he weighs just 13. \u201cThere is no aid entering Gaza,\u201d she says. \u201cBorders are closed; prices are very high. His only cure is to eat and drink.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has tried hospitals, aid groups and community kitchens, but nothing has been enough. \u201cI registered in many associations as a mother of orphans, but I didn\u2019t benefit at all,\u201d she says. \u201cI got really tired going to hospitals, associations, schools, trying to find something for him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muhammad suffers from muscle relaxation, worsened by malnutrition. Physical therapy has helped, but without proper food, recovery is impossible. \u201cSince I lost my husband, these are all God\u2019s tests,\u201d she says. \u201cWe will be patient, and hopefully it will end, and Muhammad will be like he used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNICEF spokesperson Salim Oweis calls the situation \u201ca man-made catastrophe.\u201d He warns hunger is now killing children in staggering numbers. \u201cOver 90 have died from malnutrition since the war began \u2014 a staggering increase of more than 50 percent in less than three months,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are witnessing a generation growing up with toxic stress, deprivation and trauma that will probably last a lifetime.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, nearly 12,000 children were diagnosed with acute malnutrition, compared with 2,000 in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification<\/a>, a collaborative initiative of worldwide crisis relief organizations, including UNICEF, warned in mid-July that Gaza\u2019s food consumption and nutrition indicators were at their worst since the war began. More than one in three people were going days at a time without eating, and half a million people \u2014 nearly a quarter of Gaza\u2019s population \u2014 were enduring famine-like conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery hour we wait, more children will die \u2014 if not from bombs, then from the humanitarian crisis that follows them around every corner,\u201d Mr. Oweis says. While some aid trickles in, he described it as \u201ca drop in the ocean of needs.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airdrops, though symbolic, are inefficient, expensive and dangerous, sometimes killing people in the scramble for supplies. \u201cThey don\u2019t compare to what could come in through land routes if full and unimpeded access is allowed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Al-Ahli Hospital, medical director Dr. Maher Ayyad describes a health system on the brink of collapse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReally, it is catastrophic,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are short of medicine, supplies, equipment. Our machines are damaged, and there are no spare parts or engineers to repair them. We are dependent entirely on generators, needing about 238 gallons of fuel daily \u2014 often unavailable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of the hospital\u2019s trained staff has fled or been displaced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes we receive 400 casualties in a single day,\u201d Dr. Ayyad says. \u201cWe cannot deal with all of these patients, and we are sorry to lose some because of shortages.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Al-Ahli is primarily a surgical hospital, famine\u2019s shadow is visible there, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can see people are starving,\u201d he says. \u201cSome goods are in the market, but they are so expensive nobody can buy them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Ayyad expresses gratitude for the symbolic gestures of airdropped aid but warns that without stopping the war, relief will always fall short. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease work for peace,\u201d he urges. \u201cWithout stopping this war, the problem will go deeper and deeper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The layers of collapse in Gaza reach into every part of life. Drinking water is scarce, forcing people to drink untreated water that carries the risk of cholera and other diseases. Tens of thousands live in tents or overcrowded shelters, with no privacy and little safety. Livelihoods have been erased as markets are bombed, fishing is blocked, and farmland is inaccessible. Schools lie in ruins or serve as shelters, and many children have forgotten how to read or write under the weight of trauma. The Ministry of Health warns of a dangerous increase in Guillain-Barr\u00e9 syndrome and other diseases linked with poor nutrition and sanitation, calling the situation \u201ca warning of a real, potential infectious disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The common refrain is not only that aid is scarce, but that it is uneven. \u201cSome people eat and some don\u2019t,\u201d Mr. Al-Sawafiri says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Hassouna describes how her family cannot physically reach aid drops, either because they are too far or because the scramble is too dangerous. UNICEF\u2019s Salim Owais confirms this, saying that security risks, coordination delays and desperate crowds make it almost impossible to distribute aid fairly. The difference between survival and starvation, he says, can come down to whether someone is young and strong enough to run for a bag of flour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the destruction, there is a shared refrain: \u201cAlhamdulillah,\u201d praise be to God. Faith becomes the language that fills the space where certainty used to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Mr. Al-Sawafiri, that means believing things will \u201cget better and better.\u201d For young Abdul Rahman, it means thanking God for whatever food comes. For Ms. Al-Mutawaq, it means viewing her son\u2019s suffering as a test from God, one that will one day end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

International agencies insist this crisis is not inevitable \u2014 it is preventable. UNICEF<\/a> has called for an immediate and permanent cease-fire, unrestricted entry of humanitarian and commercial supplies, and protection for civilians and aid workers. Without these steps, the warnings are stark: Famine will deepen, disease will spread, and more children will die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the help will not be enough without stopping this war,\u201d said Dr. Ayyad. \u201cThe situation is catastrophic. I hope soon the leaders will reach comprehensive peace in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Gazans wait for peace, Mozayal Hassouna repeats her faith-filled wish:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have no objection to God\u2019s will. But I hope the war ends completely, so we can live, and the children can live a little.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click below to support CNEWA\u2019s emergency campaign in Gaza.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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