Amid a suffocating blockade and relentless military assault, Gaza's children are facing a catastrophe the world can no longer ignore. Hunger and preventable disease now threaten the lives of more than one million children, as Gaza's healthcare system collapses and food and medicine vanish from shelves and clinics.

Over 80% of children in Gaza are now malnourished, humanitarian agencies report, with thousands suffering from stunted growth and wasting. A single meal a day has become a fading memory, as starvation tightens its grip.

In Beit Lahia, 13-year-old Ismail Al-Masri succumbed to liver failure caused by prolonged malnutrition. Before his death, he described his suffering: “Malnutrition has weakened my bones and left my body emaciated.” His two siblings were killed earlier in the war, and his detained father still does not know that his children are gone.

Hospitals across Gaza are barely functioning. With fuel and medicine running out, common illnesses are becoming death sentences. The UN has officially classified Gaza at Phase 5 of food insecurity—its most critical level—indicating imminent mass death and a collapse of all humanitarian systems, especially for children and women.

UNICEF has warned that “famine is now a real and present threat,” and over 500,000 children are facing acute food insecurity. Yet, aid remains blocked, crossings are sealed, and pleas go unanswered.

The silence of the world is deafening, while Gaza’s children perish—not by accident, but through calculated neglect. Their only crime is being born in a place crushed by war and injustice.