Deir el-Balah, Gaza<\/strong> \u2013 Every morning for Israa Abu Reyala and her husband, Mohammad, is a battle to find decent food for their five daughters, the youngest three of whom are triplets born during the war.<\/p>\n The ceasefire agreement, which took effect about a month ago, has made little difference in the family\u2019s daily life, Israa, 31, and Mohammad, 33, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n \u201cThe war was a nightmare,\u201d Israa says as she feeds her little ones in her parents\u2019 home in Deir el-Balah. \u201cBut the hardest part by far has been finding food, milk, and supplies for my three babies.\u201d<\/p>\n Israa learned she was pregnant with triplets two months before the war.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were planning for a third child, not three at once,\u201d she laughs, exchanging a look with her husband.<\/p>\n Their concerns at the time \u2013 about income, rent, and how to manage three infants \u2013 feel like paradise now compared to what they lived through during the pregnancy and birth, they say.<\/p>\n Israa says her triplets, who are now 19 months old, don\u2019t even know what an egg looks \u2013 much less tastes \u2013 like. They\u2019ve eaten chicken a few times, but only when sharing meals with extended family.<\/p>\n The couple had high hopes for the ceasefire that ostensibly ended Israel\u2019s war on Gaza and stipulated that Israel would allow food and aid supplies to enter the beleaguered enclave.<\/p>\n But instead of more and higher-quality food entering Gaza, they found little of nutritional value.<\/p>\n Mohammad says the markets are \u201cstuffed with commercial goods\u201d like biscuits, chocolate, candy, snacks, nuts, and canned foods, with few fruits and vegetables that enter at prices many can\u2019t afford.<\/p>\n \u201cBut what about the quality? What about proper food? And the prices are insane,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere are the eggs? Where is meat and poultry? Fresh dairy and cheese? Everything healthy, nutritious, or essential for children doesn\u2019t exist, and if it does, it\u2019s in tiny quantities and disappears instantly,\u201d Israa says.<\/p>\n Humanitarian officials call the state Israel has imposed on Gaza since it launched its genocidal war on it in October 2023, engineered starvation \u2013 a policy aimed at weakening the population physically and psychologically until society collapses from within.<\/p>\n Dr Khalil al-Degran, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that Israel has not adhered to humanitarian protocols requiring the entry of food and medical aid into Gaza, with quantities entering now \u201conly 15 to 20 percent of actual needs\u201d.<\/p>\n He adds that the products Israel allows in are nonessentials, like chips and instant noodles, which lack vital nutrients.<\/p>\n Markets remain empty of meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs, and most protein and fat sources, he says, calling it \u201cclear engineered starvation\u201d.<\/p>\n Israa says her girls are getting more to eat now, but she still worries because of the severe lack of nutritious food.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m worried about my health, too,\u201d she says. \u201cI did lab tests last month and the specialist told me I\u2019m in the early stages of malnutrition.\u201d<\/p>\n Ten-year-old Toleen says she will never forget the tanks and Israeli soldiers she had to walk past with her parents, hands up in the air, holding white flags.<\/p>\n She and her six-year-old sister, Jana, had fled with their parents from one displacement shelter to another for weeks before they fled south on foot through what Israel called \u201cthe safe corridor\u201d.<\/p>\n They tried to stay in the north, leaving their home in Shati refugee camp for a UNRWA school in al-Nasr \u2013 but Israeli tanks kept advancing, and the family had to keep fleeing.<\/p>\n So one day in November 2023, they headed south to Israa\u2019s parents\u2019 home in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, where she spent the rest of her pregnancy and delivery, struggling with malnutrition and the fear of Israeli bombs.<\/p>\n They stayed there until a ceasefire in January this year, when they went back to Gaza City, only to be caught by a famine caused by Israel\u2019s blocking of the entry of all aid supplies.<\/p>\n On March 28, 2024, two weeks before her scheduled caesarean section, she was woken up at night by labour pains, but the war was raging, with intense Israeli bombardment in nearby Nuseirat.<\/p>\n Moving at night was dangerous, and they had to call the ambulance service repeatedly, telling them they were expecting triplets, before Israa was taken to al-Awda Hospital for an emergency c-section.<\/p>\n Her daughters, Keraz, Kifah, and Jumana were born, one weighing two kilogrammes (4.4 pounds) and two weighing in at 1.9 kilogrammes (4.2 pounds), well within the average for healthy triplets.<\/p>\n \u201cGiving birth to healthy babies in a war felt like a miracle,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Dr al-Degran says most pregnant and breastfeeding women face acute anaemia caused by a lack of food and supplements, with many giving birth prematurely or miscarrying.<\/p>\n Once home, the struggle to find baby formula, diapers, and clothes for the newborns began.<\/p>\n The triplets needed about one can of formula per day, which their severely malnourished mother had to supplement by breastfeeding them. Her health collapsed.<\/p>\n \u201cMy body was exhausted and hungry,\u201d Israa says.<\/p>\n \u201cThese three \u2026 I cried as they cried from hunger,\u201d she says, looking at her triplets playing nearby.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Nanna, nanna, nanna,\u2019 that\u2019s the sound they made asking for food, day and night. I can still hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n Israa and her husband spiralled.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to escape into the street from my babies\u2019 screams, walking aimlessly, crying for hours,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Al-Degran says Gaza has suffered chronic malnutrition throughout Israel\u2019s genocidal war on the enclave.<\/p>\n He warns that even if essential foods were allowed in today, the damage done to children, especially infants, has already left long-term physical and cognitive consequences.<\/p>\n Israa\u2019s daily struggle continues, as she divides a single bite of food into three portions for her three infants.<\/p>\n \u201cThis piece for one, this for the second, and this for the third \u2026 just so they quiet down a little. But then they start crying again. They don\u2019t understand. They\u2019re just hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n Israa and Mohammad remain grateful for what little they have, though Israa cannot hide her heartbreak over Toleen and Jana, who she says have endured hunger and still tried to help her care for the babies.<\/p>\n The family\u2019s only wish now is simple: \u201cTo see a semblance of a normal life again,\u201d Israa says.<\/p>\n \u201cOpen crossings. Food. Supplies. Aid.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had enough. We\u2019ve seen enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Deir el-Balah, Gaza \u2013 Every morning for Israa Abu Reyala and her husband, Mohammad, is a battle to find decent food for their five daughters, the youngest three of whom are triplets born during the war. The ceasefire agreement, which took effect about a month ago, has made little difference in the family\u2019s daily life, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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Damage that may be irreversible<\/h2>\n
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