Gaza girl's fight for life reveals a generation's silent hunger

Eleven-year-old Dana Al-Hajj's ordeal did not end with the Israeli military destroying her family home in Khan Younas; her pale and skeletal body narrates the grim tales of every Palestinian child in Gaza about inhumane oppression as she lies weak and silent beside her mother in a crumbling tent in Deir al Balah.

Once a child with mild disabilities, Dana now suffers from severe malnutrition and rapidly deteriorating health, her body reduced to skin and bones, her voice replaced by faint whimpers of pain.

The Israeli army destroyed Dana's home months ago during a war that has now stretched over 19 months.

Her family has been displaced from Khan Younis and is now living in a makeshift shelter on a bare concrete floor, with no protection from the summer heat or the winter cold.

“She used to be almost normal,” Dana's mother told Anadolu. “Now she doesn't even recognize food. She won't eat canned meals. She cries all day from hunger, and I can't do anything. Even milk is gone.”

Dana's thin frame reflects the trauma inflicted on an entire generation of Gaza's children. The war, compounded by an Israeli-imposed blockade and the total closure of aid crossings since early March, has driven Gaza into unprecedented famine.

- Medical emergency, not luxury

Dana's condition requires a medically supervised diet, vitamins, and constant care. But in Gaza today, even basic food is a luxury.

“She needs natural food, supplements, medical attention, this is not a request for luxury, it's an urgent need,” her mother said. “But there is nothing. We've lost everything.”

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 57 children have died from malnutrition and related complications.

Field hospital director Marwan Al-Hams confirmed that most children now survive on one incomplete meal per day, often lacking clean water or basic nutrients.

Families line up for hours at communal food kitchens, often receiving only a small portion per household.

Mothers like Dana's strive to stretch a single meal through the day, while watching their children wither away.

- ‘She's withering away'

Dana once underwent brain surgery and showed signs of recovery before the war. But the relentless famine has reversed all progress.

“She can't even stand. Her body is just bones,” her mother said. “There's no fruit, no vegetables, and no medicine. We are just trying to survive, but this isn't life anymore.”

Israeli warplanes and tanks continue to attack Gaza, and humanitarian aid remains blocked at all crossings.

On Saturday, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese described Israel's starvation policy as a war crime, saying: “Your hunger today is our shame.”

- ‘We just want her to live'

With each passing day, the risk of death for children like Dana increases. Israel denies Gaza's 2.4 million people access to international aid.

“We're not asking for luxuries,” Dana's mother said. “We just want a dignified life for our daughter. She needs food, she needs treatment, she needs care.”

As the world watches, she issues a final, desperate plea: “Open the crossings. Save my daughter before it's too late.”

Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza's crossings closed to food, medical, and humanitarian aid, deepening an already humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to government, human rights, and international reports.

Nearly 52,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.