- The severe malnutrition of 18-month-old Muhammad al-Mutawaq has sparked global outrage. While Israeli officials claimed his condition was due to preexisting illnesses, senior Israeli doctors argue that no child in a developed country would deteriorate to such a state without medical intervention. Gaza’s collapsing healthcare and food systems, worsened by Israel’s blockade, are the real cause of his starvation.
- Israeli pediatric specialists, including Professor Dan Turner and Dr. Michal Feldon, state that even children with chronic illnesses should not reach such extreme malnutrition under proper care. Al-Mutawaq’s rapid weight loss coincided with Israel’s aid blockade, and his required nutritional supplements were unavailable in Gaza.
- Israel’s siege has devastated Gaza’s food and medical infrastructure, leading to severe shortages. UN reports show child malnutrition rates rising sharply, nearing famine thresholds. Despite Israel’s claims of allowing aid, distribution remains dangerously slow, with humanitarian groups blaming restrictions.
- Infants, the elderly and chronically ill patients are hit hardest. Doctors condemn Israel’s restrictions on food as morally indefensible, citing desperate scenes of Gazans risking their lives for aid.
- Experts warn that Israel’s actions in Gaza are eroding its ethical values and global standing. Without urgent intervention, Gaza’s malnutrition crisis will leave a generation scarred by hunger and war.
The haunting image of 18-month-old Muhammad al-Mutawaq, his tiny body skeletal from severe malnutrition, made global headlines weeks ago, sparking outrage over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
But when reports emerged that the child suffered from preexisting neurological and muscle disorders, Israeli officials and allies accused international media of misrepresenting his condition, even claiming that his emaciation was due to illness, not starvation caused by Israel’s blockade.
Now, two senior Israeli doctors are pushing back. They insisted that while al-Mutawaq’s underlying conditions may have contributed to his frailty, no child in Israel or any developed country would be allowed to deteriorate to such a state without intervention. The real cause, they argue, is the near-total collapse of Gaza’s medical and food supply systems under Israel’s restrictions on aid.
Professor Dan Turner, head of pediatric gastroenterology at a leading Jerusalem hospital and deputy dean at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem‘s School of Medicine, explained that even children with severe illnesses should not reach such extreme malnutrition in a functioning healthcare system.
“You categorically do not find kids looking like that in Israel or Western countries,” said Turner. He added that even the patients with “background diseases” do not reach al-Mutawaq’s level of malnutrition. Turner also said that a patient like al-Mutawaq “would be admitted to [the] hospital.”
In an interview, al-Mutawaq’s mother said that he once weighed nine kilograms, but that he had dropped to just six, indicating a rapid decline coinciding with Israel’s 10-week total blockade on aid between March and May. She added that he required specialized nutritional supplements, which were unavailable in Gaza.
Dr. Michal Feldon, a senior pediatrician at another top Israeli hospital, echoed Turner’s concerns. Feldon, who had 20 years of experience as a pediatrician, had never seen children looking like al-Mutawaq, “even very chronically ill children.”
Feldon added that children don’t normally look that emaciated because he was “starving and hungry despite whatever condition he has.” Feldon suggested that al-Mutawaq may have previously relied on formula or liquid nutrition, which is now impossible to obtain in Gaza.
Aid blockade worsens Gaza’s famine conditions
Israel’s near-total siege on Gaza, imposed after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, has devastated the enclave’s food and medical infrastructure. Though Israel insists it allows sufficient aid, United Nations agencies and humanitarian groups report severe shortages of food, clean water and medical supplies.
According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), acute malnutrition among Gaza’s children has skyrocketed from 2.4 percent in February to 8.8 percent in July. In Gaza City, malnutrition rates surged from four percent to 16 percent in the same period.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which monitors famine risks, defines famine conditions as occurring when 30 percent of children suffer acute malnutrition, a threshold that Gaza is rapidly approaching.
Despite these figures, Israel still denies that famine exists in Gaza. A senior Israeli security official acknowledged in July that steps were needed to “stabilize the humanitarian situation,” while the military later announced daily 10-hour pauses in fighting to facilitate aid delivery.
However, aid workers say distribution remains dangerously slow. Israel has pointed its finger at UN agencies for delays, a claim that humanitarian groups reject.
The most vulnerable suffer first
Turner emphasized that the most vulnerable, such as infants, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses, are bearing the brunt of the crisis.
He also condemned Israel’s role in creating the crisis, arguing that restricting food to civilians, regardless of military objectives, violates moral principles.
“Personally, I don’t think limiting food to a population, regardless of the war aims, should be on the table for the Jewish people and the State of Israel, said Turner.
Turner pointed to the chaotic scenes of desperate Gazans swarming aid trucks, often at great risk, as proof of extreme hunger. Beyond the physical suffering, Turner expressed alarm over what he sees as Israel’s moral decline during the war. He said that while the country has had “a good compass over four thousand years for what is right and wrong,” Israel has changed significantly in recent years.
“Our values have kept us together in the most difficult periods of history, and we are losing these values,” concluded Turner. He also warned that Israel’s actions in Gaza, particularly the withholding of aid, risk long-term damage to its ethical standing. (Related: Borrell slams EU’s complicity in Israeli war crimes, calls for action.)
As Gaza’s children continue to starve amid the ongoing conflict, the international community watches with growing concern. While Israel maintains that it is not restricting aid, doctors like Turner and Feldon argue that the evidence on the ground, such as children like Muhammad al-Mutawaq, tells a different story.
Watch UNICEF spokeswoman Rosalia Bollen being at a loss of words to describe the catastrophe in Gaza.
This video is from the Cynthia’s Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Major Israeli human rights groups accuse Tel Aviv of genocide in Gaza.
Gaza’s humanitarian crisis: The weaponization of starvation and the failure of international law.
Slovenia becomes first EU nation to impose arms embargo on Israel over Gaza assault.
Sources include:
News.Antiwar.com
TimesOfIsrael.com
NYTimes.com
Brighteon.com
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