In Gaza, We’re Struggling to Reintroduce Foods to Bodies Adjusted to Starvation |
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Death in Gaza isn’t limited only to drones, gunfire, artillery shelling, infectious diseases, or the grinding famine. It can come, too, from the very act of eating, after a prolonged period of starvation. Malnutrition has already claimed hundreds of lives, yet in Gaza, even food can kill.
Since October’s ceasefire, which meant Israel would allow some — but not nearly enough — aid trucks to enter our besieged Strip, people in Gaza have desperately been eating, whenever possible, what they had been deprived of previously. Yet, as a result, many have developed “refeeding syndrome,” which is a serious medical condition. It is treatable, but it is fatal if not properly managed. Refeeding syndrome occurs when food is suddenly reintroduced after a prolonged period of starvation — and Israel has subjected those of us in Gaza to such periods on multiple occasions.
Israel tightened the noose of its blockade on Gaza in March of 2025, after breaking a ceasefire that had gone into effect in January. Under the new blockade, Israel prevented aid trucks from entering with food supplies and urgent medical equipment, pushing already exhausted civilians to the brink of total collapse. As time passed, the signs of famine spoke louder than any rhetoric attempting to debunk it as an “orchestrated lie.” Bodies began to shut down. Organs failed. Weights were slashed by half, if not more.
Refeeding syndrome occurs when food is suddenly reintroduced after a prolonged period of starvation.
As flour and other carbohydrate-containing foods depleted, people’s bodies began consuming themselves — using stored fat and proteins, which has led to profound muscle loss, respiratory distress, and immune suppression. This was not an isolated plight. It was a humanitarian catastrophe, with its parameters widening day by day.
The crisis grew severe enough to force the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the world’s top famine authority, to reassess the manufactured “status quo,” concluding that most of Gaza’s population had reached phase 4 malnutrition and could potentially enter the final phase by September 2025. The warning called for immediate, tangible intervention to halt the irreversible consequences.
Daily entry of at least 600 food trucks and unrestricted access for medical supplies and equipment were among the measures debated during U.S.-brokered ceasefire negotiations, and reportedly accepted in the deal in October. Yet, in the months following the ceasefire, an average of no more than 200 trucks have been allowed to enter per day. This is nowhere near enough for a population that has been systematically starved for months.
The permitted trucks carry secondary products such as soft drinks, instant noodles, chocolate bars, cigarettes, and coffee, many of which are listed on global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement lists because their companies explicitly support funding genocide and sending weapons to Israel. This is not incidental, but rather an intentional approach from Israel to make up for the economic losses that have resulted from........