Gaza babies face starvation as Israel cuts off aid

A severe shortage of food and baby formula has caused deaths among children and infants in the Gaza Strip, exacerbating the suffering of the Palestinians caused by Israel's ongoing war and the severe blockade imposed on the Strip .

Marwaft Al-Najjar never expected that the joy of welcoming her newborn son, Yahya, would be overshadowed by tragedy. Before reaching three months of age, Yahya died of starvation, a result of the severe shortage of food and baby formula in Gaza.

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Gaza babies face starvation as Israel cuts off aid

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Gaza babies face starvation as Israel cuts off aid

Since the Israeli blockade began with its military campaign on October 7, 2023, access to essential supplies has been drastically limited. Al-Najjar now lives in fear that her remaining children may suffer the same fate.

"May Allah have mercy on him. He died of malnutrition. We couldn't provide food for him and his older siblings. We couldn't provide milk. He was discharged from the hospital even though he hadn't recovered," said Najlaa Al-Najjar, Yahya's aunt.

Hospitals in Gaza receive dozens of malnourished children every day, who could meet the same fate. Residents said the lack of basic nutrition is putting thousands of lives at risk.

Sireen Abu Awad, whose surviving twin sons remain hospitalized, said she has been unable to breastfeed due to her own malnutrition.

"This is one of my twin sons. His brother died after staying for 10 days in the incubator. He remained there for 35 days," said Abu Awad.

"We have been in the hospital for seven days now. We have been giving him IVs, but to no avail. He needs food. I tried breastfeeding, but there is no milk due to the small amount of food I eat," she continued.

At the Al-Rantisi Hospital for Children, Ragheb Warsh Agha, head of the Gastroenterology Department, said that cases of chronic diarrhea and malnutrition have surged.

"Many cases of malnutrition and chronic diarrhea are brought to the Al-Rantisi Hospital due to the shortage of infant formula. Although milk was available before the war, it is now unfortunately unavailable at the Al-Rantisi Hospital due to the war and the closure of the crossings," said the doctor.

Humanitarian groups and Gaza residents have called on the international community to pressure Israel to allow more aid into the enclave. With crossings largely sealed, many families say even basic items like bread are increasingly out of reach, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe that could lead to thousands of deaths from starvation.

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.