Gaza girl’s fight for life reveals a generation’s silent hunger (1)

DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA, PALESTINE - MAY 6, 2025: Eleven-year-old Dana Al-Hajj's ordeal did not end with the Israeli military destroying her family home in Khan Younis; her pale and skeletal body narrates the grim tales of every Palestinian child in Gaza about inhumane oppression as she lies weak and silent beside her mother in a crumbling tent in Deir al Balah.Once a child with mild disabilities, Dana now suffers from severe malnutrition and rapidly deteriorating health, her body reduced to skin and bones, her voice replaced by faint whimpers of pain.The Israeli army destroyed Dana’s home months ago during a war that has now stretched over 19 months.Her family has been displaced from Khan Younis and is now living in a makeshift shelter on a bare concrete floor, with no protection from the summer heat or the winter cold.Dana’s thin frame reflects the trauma inflicted on an entire generation of Gaza’s children. The war, compounded by an Israeli-imposed blockade and the total closure of aid crossings since early March, has driven Gaza into unprecedented famine.Dana’s condition requires a medically supervised diet, vitamins, and constant care. But in Gaza today, even basic food is a luxury.“She needs natural food, supplements, medical attention, this is not a request for luxury, it’s an urgent need,” her mother said. “But there is nothing. We’ve lost everything.”Mothers like Dana’s strive to stretch a single meal through the day, while watching their children wither away.With each passing day, the risk of death for children like Dana increases. Israel denies Gaza's 2.4 million people access to international aid.“We’re not asking for luxuries,” Dana’s mother said. “We just want a dignified life for our daughter. She needs food, she needs treatment, she needs care.”As the world watches, she issues a final, desperate plea: “Open the crossings. Save my daughter before it’s too late.” (Footage by Mohammed Nassar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)