Israel’s blockade means Gaza’s hospitals cannot provide food to recovering patients

Families in Gaza struggle to feed hospitalized loved ones amid rising malnutrition due to Israel's blockade on supplies.

It cost a fortune, she said, but Asmaa Fayez managed to buy a few zucchinis in a Gaza market. She cooked them with rice and brought it to her four-year-old son, who has been in the hospital for the past week. The soup was his only meal of the day, and he asked for more.

“It’s all finished, darling,” Ms. Fayez replied softly. Still, it was an improvement from the canned beans and tuna she brings on other days, she said.

Hospital patients are among the most vulnerable as Palestinians across Gaza struggle to feed themselves, with Israel's blockade on food and other supplies entering the territory now in its third month.

With hospitals unable to provide food, families must bring whatever they can find for loved ones.

“Most, if not all, wounded patients have lost weight, especially in the past two months,” Dr. Khaled Alserr, a general surgeon at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, told The Associated Press. Nutritional supplements for intensive care unit patients are lacking, he said.

“Our hands are tied when it comes to making the best choice for patients. Choices are limited,” he said.

Malnutrition is on the rise across Gaza, aid groups say. Thousands of children have been found with acute malnutrition in the past month, but adults as well are not getting proper nutrients, according to the U.N. It estimates that 16,000 pregnant women and new mothers this year face acute malnutrition.