STORY: A grieving mother clutched the shrouded body of a three-month-old infant who died from malnutrition on Sunday (July 20) at a funeral in Gaza's Khan Younis.

A doctor and his uncle told Reuters the infant, Yehia al-Najjar, died due to the lack of baby formula, while his mother, suffering from malnutrition herself, was unable to breastfeed him. Yehia was only receiving water and anise drink, his uncle Anan al-Najjar said.

Palestinian health officials said hundreds of people could soon die as hospitals were inundated with patients suffering from dizziness and exhaustion due to the scarcity of food and a collapse in aid deliveries.

A paediatrician at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis said they were receiving an increasing amount of malnourished children in recent months, and a specialised department for malnutrition had been opened at the hospital to treat them.

"We are trying as much as we can, with the tools we have, to deal with them (malnourished children), as much as we can to make baby formula available, but recently, this is not available, and our calls to make baby formula available for children have failed,” said Fidaa al-Nadi, a paediatrician at Nasser hospital.

The United Nations also said on Sunday that civilians were starving and needed an urgent influx of aid.

Residents said it was becoming impossible to find essential food such as flour. The Gaza health ministry said at least 71 children had died of malnutrition during the war, and 60,000 others were suffering from symptoms of malnutrition.

Food prices have increased well beyond what most of the population of more than two million can afford.

UNRWA, the U.N. refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, demanded Israel allow more aid trucks into Gaza, saying it had enough food for the entire population for over three months which was not allowed in.

Israel has denied accusations it is preventing aid from reaching Gaza and has accused Hamas of stealing food, an allegation Hamas denies. It also says the United Nations has not picked up aid ready to move into Gaza.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (JULY 20, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF ALAA AL-NAJJAR, MOTHER OF THREE-MONTH-OLD BABY YEHIA AL-NAJJAR WHO DIED OF HUNGER, HOLDING BODY AND CRYING DURING HIS FUNERAL

2. BABY BEING WRAPPED IN WHITE SHROUD

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNCLE OF THREE-MONTH-OLD BABY YEHIA AL-NAJJAR WHO DIED OF HUNGER, ANAN AL-NAJJAR, SAYING:

"He died due to malnutrition and the unavailability of baby formula at the Gaza Strip. We urge the entire world, all Arab countries, and everyone with a living consciousness, humanity and dignity, to just stand with the children, just to let baby formula get into the Gaza Strip."

4. NAJJAR STANDING NEXT TO MAN CARRYING YEHIA'S SHROUDED BODY

5. MAN CARRYING YEHIA'S SHROUDED BODY

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNCLE OF THREE-MONTH-OLD BABY YEHIA AL-NAJJAR WHO DIED OF HUNGER, ANAN AL-NAJJAR, SAYING:

"Since he was born, he is only drinking anise and water. Other than that, he drinks nothing. There is no baby formula in the Gaza Strip, for the children to get food that would keep them going."

7. VARIOUS OF WOMEN CRYING AT FUNERAL

8. WOMAN CARRYING CHILD AT FUNERAL

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AUNT OF THREE-MONTH-OLD BABY YEHIA AL-NAJJAR WHO DIED OF HUNGER, OKLAJEEN AL-NAJJAR, SAYING:

"All of Gaza is hungry, everyone around you has no loaf of bread at home. Everyone is the same, everyone around you is like that. And he has another brother, if you look at him, you would say it's only a matter of a day or two and he will die, (he looks like) a skeleton. May God be patient with us and grant us patience. Oh God, relieve Gaza, for the sake of this child who died of hunger."

10. SHROUD ON GROUND

11. PEOPLE DURING FUNERAL PRAYER

12. VARIOUS OF MALNOURISHED CHILDREN AT NASSER HOSPITAL

13. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PAEDIATRICIAN AT NASSER HOSPITAL, FIDAA AL-NADI, SAYING:

"Every day at Nasser medical complex, we receive malnutrition cases, and a malnutrition department was opened at Nasser complex during the last months of the war due to the increasing number of malnutrition cases and its complications among children. This morning was a sad and an unfortunate one, because we lost the baby, Yehia al-Najjar, who is three-month-old, due to malnutrition and the unavailability of baby formula for him, as well as his mother's inability to breastfeed him, because she is suffering from malnutrition herself."

14. VARIOUS OF MALNOURISHED BABY

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PEDIATRICIAN AT NASSER HOSPITAL, FIDAA AL-NADI, SAYING:

"Nasser medical complex, like the rest of the Gaza Strip, is suffering from a severe lack of equipment, medications, and baby formula. We are trying as much as we can, with the tools we have, to deal with them (malnourished children), as much as we can to make baby formula available, but recently, this is not available, and our calls to make baby formula available for children have failed."

16. VARIOUS OF MALNOURISHED CHILDREN AND THEIR MOTHERS

17. VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF NASSER HOSPITAL