It cost a fortune, she said, but Asmaa Fayez managed to buy some zucchinis in a Gaza market. She cooked them with rice and brought him to her 4 -year -old son, who was in the hospital last week. The soup was his only meal of the day, and he ordered more.
“It’s all over, dear,” Fayez replied gently. Still, it was an improvement of canned beans and tuna it brings on other days, she said.
Hospital patients are among the most vulnerable, as Gaza Palestinians struggle to feed, with Israel’s blockade on food and other supplies entering the territory now in their third month.
With hospitals unable to provide food, families should bring what they can find to the loved ones.
“Most, if not all, injured patients have lost weight, especially in the last two months,” said Dr. Khaled Alserr, general surgeon at Nasser Hospital in Khan Youis, south of the Associated Press. Nutritional supplements are lacking for patients with intensive care unit, he said.
“Our hands are tied when it comes to making the best choice for patients. The options are limited,” he said.
Malnutrition is increasing in Gaza, say help groups. Thousands of children were found with acute malnutrition last month, but adults are not obtaining adequate nutrients either, according to the UN estimates that 16,000 pregnant women and new mothers this year face acute malnutrition.
Since the Israeli blockade began on March 2, food sources are drying. Help groups interrupted food distribution. Bakeries closed. Charity kitchens that distribute pasta or lentils remain the last line of life to most of the population, but are closing rapidly due to lack of supplies, says the UN.
Markets are empty of almost everything except canned and small amounts of vegetables, and prices are rising. Local vegetable production has plummeted because Israeli forces damaged 80% of Gaza’s agricultural lands, the UN says, and much of the rest is inaccessible within newly deceived military areas.
Fayez’s son Ali Al-Dbory was admitted to Nasser Hospital because of a blocked gut, suffering severe cramps and unable to use the bathroom. Fayez believes it is because he has eating little but canned. She dedicated herself to the zucchini, which now costs about $ 10 per kilogram (2.2 pounds). Before the war, it was less than a dollar.
The doctors said the hospital does not have a scanner in operation to diagnose his son and decide if he needs surgery.
Israel says it imposed the blockade and resumed its military campaign in March to press Hamas to release its hostages and disarm the rest.
Hamas lit the war with its attack of 7 October 2023 to Israel, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, especially civilians, and took 251 hostages, most of which were released in cease agreements or other agreements. Israel’s offensive killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, especially women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.
Israeli authorities said enough food entered Gaza during a two-month ceasefire earlier this year. Rights groups challenged this and called the “hunger tactic” block and a potential war crime.
Now Israeli plans control the distribution of aid in Gaza, using private contractors to distribute supplies. The UN and the aid groups rejected the idea, saying that it could restrict who is eligible to give and receive help and can force a large number of Palestinians to move – which would violate international law.
Those carefully in hospitals and their families that stand out to feed them would face more challenges under Israel’s proposal. Changing to achieve help may be out of the question.
Another patient at Nasser Hospital, 19 -year -old Asmaa Faraj had shrapnel on the chest of an air strike that came close to her tent and a nearby charity kitchen for people displaced outside Khan Youis.
When the AP visited, the only food she had was a small dating bag, a date cookie and some bottles of water. Your sister brought some pickles.
“People used to bring fruits as a gift when they visited sick people in hospitals,” said sister, Salwa Faraj. “Today we have water bottles.”
She said her sister needs protein, fruits and vegetables, but none are available.
Mohammed Al-Bursh managed to find some tuna and bean cans to bring to his 30-year-old son, Sobhi, who was injured in an air strike three months ago. Sobhi’s left foot has been amputated and he has two broken vertebrae in the neck.
Al-bursh gently gave his son a spoon of beans while he was standing in the hospital bed, a key in his neck.
“Everything is expensive,” said underi al-bursh, grating with pain he says he is constant. He said he limits what he eats to help save his father’s money.
He believes his body needs meat to heal. “It’s been three months and nothing heals,” he said.