(22 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++CLIENTS NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS FOOTAGE OF MALNOURISHED CHILDREN++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip – 22 May 2025
1. Various of two-year-old Mayar al-Arja in Nasser Hospital malnutrition department
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Asma al-Arja, mother of Mayar al-Arja: ++STARTS ON SHOT 1 AND PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 3++
"She is two years old. She weighs seven kilograms (15 pounds). She suffers from severe malnutrition. She has celiac disease and chronic diarrhea. She has been suffering from it for a year now. She needs diapers, soy milk and she needs special food. This is not available because of border closures. If it’s available, it is expensive, I can’t afford it."
3. Mayar’s mother Asma al-Arja dressing her as she cries
4. Various of five-month-old Yousef Al-Najjar sleeping in malnutrition department
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Najia al-Najjar, mother of Yousef al-Najjar: ++STARTS ON SHOT 4 AND PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 6++
"Since I gave birth, I keep spending time in the hospital. I leave for a few days, only to return again. He is malnourished, has infections everywhere and a blood infection. There is no baby formula. There is no milk at all."
6. Close of Yousef’s hand
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Dr. Ahmed al-Farrah, head of pediatrics and obstetrics department: ++PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 8++
"We are now facing a disaster. This disaster will be dire if there is a continuation in the blocking of food supplies. I predict there will be many victims because of food insecurity. Most people now live off food scraps of what they had in stock."
8. Various of mothers and their children in malnutrition department
STORYLINE:
Grabbing her daughter Mayar’s feeble arm, Asmaa al-Arja pulls a shirt over her two-year-old’s protruding ribs and swollen belly.
The child lies on a hospital bed, heaving, then wails uncontrollably, throwing her arms around her own shoulders as if to console herself.
This isn’t the first time Mayar has been in a Gaza hospital battling malnutrition, yet this 17-day stint is the longest.
She has celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that means she can’t eat gluten and requires special food.
But there’s little left for her to eat in the embattled enclave after 19 months of war and Israel’s punishing blockade, and she can’t digest what’s available.
“She needs diapers, soy milk and she needs special food. This is not available because of border closures. If it’s available, it is expensive, I can’t afford it,” her mother said as she sat next to Mayar at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Mayar is among the more than 9,000 children who have been treated for malnutrition this year, according to the U.N. children’s agency, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year.
Experts also warn the territory could plunge into famine if Israel doesn’t stop its military campaign and fully lift its blockade — but the World Health Organization said last week that people are already starving.
For more than two months, Israel has banned all food, medicine and other goods from entering the territory that is home to some 2 million Palestinians, as it carries out waves of airstrikes and ground operations.
Palestinians in Gaza rely almost entirely on outside aid to survive because Israel’s offensive has destroyed almost all the territory’s food production capabilities.
After weeks of insisting Gaza had enough food, Israel relented in the face of international pressure and began allowing dozens of humanitarian trucks into the territory this week — including some carrying baby food.
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