In Gaza, a mother gently holds her starving baby boy. The image is heartbreaking. One year old Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq weighs the same as a three month old. His body is thin, his bones visible under fragile skin.
Muhammad’s weight dropped from 9kg to just 6kg (13lbs). Hunger is killing children as aid remains blocked. In the last two days, at least 12 children have died from malnutrition. The crisis grows worse by the hour.
Muhammad lives in a tent, wearing a black bin bag as a nappy. His mother tries to comfort him, but there is no food, no medicine, and no hope in sight.
He is one of 900,000 children in Gaza suffering from hunger. Around 70,000 are in life-threatening condition. Their bodies are shutting down, one by one.
The world is watching in horror. Aid groups and global leaders are calling for an end to the blockade. But for children like Muhammad, time is running out.
Foreign secretary David Lammy said: “I feel the same as the British public: appalled, sickened.
“These are not words that are usually used by a foreign secretary who is attempting to be diplomatic, but when you see innocent children holding out their hand for food, and you see them shot and killed in the way that we have seen in the last few days, of course Britain must call it out.”
One official with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine told the Express: “We’re in the death phase. Everything around people at the moment is death, whether it’s bombs or strikes; children are wasting away.
“Doctors and nurses who continue to work in clinics and medical centres are watching children disappear and die in front of their eyes, and there’s absolutely nothing that they can do about it.”
The UN Human Rights Office says it has recorded 1,054 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food.
It said: “Our data is based on information from multiple reliable sources on the ground, including medical teams, humanitarian and human rights organisations.”
Ross Smith, World Food Programme director of emergency preparedness and response, added: “The hunger crisis in Gaza has reached new and astonishing levels of desperation. It’s one of the greatest tragedies we’ve seen.”