The silent killer of Gaza—hunger—has begun to leave visible scars on the most vulnerable: its children. Among them is Dana Al-Hajj, once a healthy and energetic young girl, now wasting away in a tent, her small body bearing the cost of siege and starvation.

Displaced from Khan Yunis after Israeli forces demolished her home, Dana and her family now struggle to survive in Deir al-Balah. Her mother, caring for five children, speaks of life reduced to misery. “Dana was fine—just like any other child—until the siege tightened,” she said. “Now, there’s no food, no medicine, and no way to treat her.”

In Gaza, nutritious food has become a memory. Vegetables, protein, even the basics once provided by soup kitchens—vanished. Malnutrition is no longer an abstract concern; it is a death sentence that creeps in as the world watches.

Since March, Gaza’s crossings have remained shut, choking off humanitarian aid. International bodies warn of catastrophe, yet the blockade holds. “I won’t beg anyone anymore,” Dana’s mother says, her voice breaking with exhaustion. “I just ask God to ease our pain.” In a strip already shattered by war, hunger has become a second siege—slower, but just as cruel.