Children of Gaza Between Anemia and Skin Diseases: A Generation Facing a Long-Term Health Catastrophe

Displaced families in the Gaza Strip are living a worsening humanitarian tragedy inside tents that lack the most basic necessities for a dignified life, where infants face severe health risks due to the absence of essential supplies. Mothers and grandmothers stand helpless before the cries of little ones whose delicate bodies are ravaged by sores due to the use of primitive and unhygienic alternatives to diapers, whose prices have now exceeded the purchasing power of most families.

Field testimonies from inside displacement centers indicate that the price of a pack of diapers jumped from 20 shekels before the war to more than 150 shekels currently, with continued increases amid a severe shortage of supplies. This exorbitant cost has forced families living without income to buy diapers piece by piece, with each piece costing more than 10 shekels, an amount that burdens already exhausted heads of households.

In this bitter reality, grandmother Umm Muhammad Abu Al-Kas recounts the suffering of her grandchildren who cannot sleep at night from severe pain and hunger, as their skin is covered in rashes from using cloth and nylon bags. She confirms that the absence of formula milk and its high price has made raising an infant in these circumstances an almost impossible task, especially with the lack of healthy nutritional alternatives that newborns need in their first months.

For her part, Ms. Dunia Dalloul describes her arduous search for detergents and medical ointments that are now completely missing from the markets or are sold at exorbitant prices that cannot be afforded. She says that the absence of water and soap has turned her child's body into a map of severe inflammations, as she is forced to use remnants of worn-out and rough cloth, which exacerbates the child's skin condition in the absence of options.

Living priorities for Gazan families are painfully intertwined, as families find themselves having to choose between providing treatment for chronic diseases or buying essential children's supplies. Suhaila Al-Khour, whose son suffers from a heart condition, bitterly wonders how to balance the cost of her father's medicine with buying diapers to protect her grandchildren from diarrhea and skin diseases that are ravaging them due to pollution.

On the medical front, Dr. Ghassan Matar, a family doctor at the Haidar Abdel Shafi Community Association, warned of a terrifying deterioration in the general health condition of children in the Gaza Strip. He explained that the rates of anemia have shockingly jumped from 10% before the war to about 70% currently, a dangerous indicator of the scale of the nutritional catastrophe affecting the younger generation.

Matar attributed this sharp increase in infections to severe malnutrition and the comprehensive economic collapse that has rendered families unable to secure essential proteins and vitamins. He stressed that the absence of eggs, milk, and nutritional supplements from Gazan tables has led to a general weakening of children's immunity, making them susceptible to various types of infections and diseases associated with malnutrition.

Suffering is not limited to nutrition but extends to the emergence of new and complex skin diseases that were not previously common, due to the lack of personal hygiene and overcrowding in shelters. Medical sources reported that the absence of wet wipes and skin care supplies has led to an exacerbation of skin rashes, turning into bacterial and fungal infections that are difficult to treat due to the shortage of medicines.

Official data issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Health indicates that the Gaza Strip received more than 61,000 new births between January 2025 and March 2026. These newborns were born at the peak of the humanitarian crisis, with most of them lacking primary healthcare and necessary immunizations, putting their health future at stake amid the ongoing suffocating siege.

In a related context, field sources confirmed that journalists and humanitarian workers are not separate from this suffering, as they face the same challenges in providing milk and diapers for their children. Behind the cameras and journalistic reports lie personal stories of journalist mothers struggling to secure the minimum needs for their children, who are threatened by anemia and skin diseases just like the rest of the sector's residents.

Specialists warned that the continuation of this situation portends a long-term health catastrophe from which the bodies of this generation may not recover for years to come, as iron and vitamin deficiencies in the early stages of development leave permanent effects on mental and physical development. The imposed siege, which prevents the entry of essential health and food supplies, represents a slow death sentence for thousands of children who survived the bombing.

Children in Gaza remain trapped between the hammer of hunger and the anvil of disease, amid international silence and an inability to bring in essential humanitarian aid that ensures their survival. The scenes coming from displacement tents reflect a tragic reality beyond all description, where the simplest rights of childhood, such as hygiene and food, become distant dreams amid the ongoing war of annihilation.

The child in Gaza is trapped between empty intestines lacking iron and vitamins, and skin diseases due to the absence of healthy alternatives, portending a long-term health catastrophe.