Sara al-Sarhi.. A three-year-old girl battles malnutrition with her siblings in the Mawasi of Khan Younis
At three years old, Sara al-Sarhi suffers from malnutrition along with her siblings Muhammad (5) and Noha (9) in the Mawasi of Khan Younis. Her mother Ghadeer searches for baby formula at Nasser Medical Complex without success. The family, displaced from the Zaytoun neighborhood, lives in a tent and faces a lack of income and high food prices.
At three years old, Sara al-Sarhi stands in the therapeutic nutrition clinic at the pediatric department of Nasser Medical Complex, her body weakened by malnutrition, while her mother Ghadeer searches for the milk her child needs but cannot find. Ghadeer did not come to the hospital alone; her three children, Sara (3), Muhammad (5), and Noha (9), all suffer from malnutrition, as the family, displaced from the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City, struggles to provide the most basic needs for her children. Al-Sarhi says that reaching Nasser Medical Complex from their displacement location is not easy, and the family must travel distances to find transportation, only to face another problem inside the hospital: the unavailability of baby formula. The family lives in a tent after repeated displacement forced them to leave their home and move to the Mawasi of Khan Younis. Al-Sarhi describes life in the tent as very difficult, saying the family can no longer provide for their children's basic needs. Dr. Ibtihal al-Najjar, head of the therapeutic nutrition department, follows up on children suffering from the effects of food shortages, and says the clinic continues to register children with malnutrition, noting that the presence of some food items in the markets does not mean all families can afford them. She explains that the problem is not only about food availability but also about families' ability to access and purchase it, especially protein-rich foods. Al-Najjar believes that repeated displacement, living in tents, and loss of income sources are factors that compound pressure on families.