Morning comes after a night filled with tears and growling of empty stomachs, Mariam starts her of finding anything to stop her baby’s hunger and tears after she lost hope of finding baby formula for him, saying, “Baby formula became a luxury for our babies, my baby hasn’t tasted it for two weeks.”
In the light of the strangling besiege on the Gaza Strip, and the scarcity of essential food supplies, including baby formula, citizens face a major crisis in providing baby formulafor their infants. When it is available, it is at exorbitant prices, many times beyond their purchasing power. As a result, many mothers resort to alternatives to quell their children’s hunger, which may be unhealthy.
Newborns baby formula Alternatives
In one displaced persons tents in Mawasi Khan Younis Sarah, a mother of two kids – one of them is no older than five months old, resides while suffering to get baby formula for her two children; her milk is no longer enough due to malnutrition because of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that 90% of breastfeeding and pregnant women suffer from malnutrition.
Sarah uses rice instead of baby formula and puts it in her babies’ bottle in hopes of shutting his hunger down and keeping him hydrated – causing him to experience continuous diarrhea and bloating.
“I can’t find any other solution. Even if I do find a can of formula, it costs 200 shekels ($55). Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?”
The escape point turned into a dilemma
On a bed at the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in Gaza, Palestinian father Mohammed Hunaideq stands beside his five-month-old baby, Yasser.
“Because of malnutrition, my wife’s milk dried up after just 40 days of giving birth. She was no longer able to breastfeed, so I had no choice but to look for baby formula,” he says. “I searched everywhere and couldn’t find any formula suitable for infants. After great effort, I could only find UNRWA aid milk, which is not appropriate for a baby this age and was extremely expensive. I was forced to buy it so my son wouldn’t starve.”
Hunaideq adds that the formula had already expired in January 2025, “It was expired, but I had to give it to my son so he wouldn’t die from hunger.”
The consequences were devastating. His baby ended up hospitalized, suffering from severe bloating, vomiting, and diarrhea, which led to dehydration.
“My child is now between life and death simply because there is no milk available,” Hunaideq says.
He appeals to the World Health Organization and all humanitarian organizations to urgently provide support for infants and their mothers to prevent further deaths from Gaza’s worsening famine:
“Our children are dying in front of our eyes and we can’t do anything. For God’s sake, someone must act.”
The Triumph of Finding Milk Turns Into Heartbreak
Manal Hamdan had envisioned a beautiful life for her twin babies. She awaited their arrival eagerly, but the circumstances were stronger than her dreams.
“I was hopeful the war would end before I gave birth, but things only became harder,” she says.
“I endured so much pain during pregnancy, but imagining my babies kept me going. It was a difficult pregnancy. I suffered from malnutrition, eating canned food instead of nutrient-rich meals.”
When it was time to give birth, she was terrified.
“I had a premature C-section under harsh conditions with little medical care available. My babies stayed in the incubator for days because their health was fragile. When we were finally discharged, I thought the pain was over — but I had no idea the worst was yet to come.”
Just days later, she was forcibly displaced.
“Now I live with my babies in a tent, suffering immensely. Day after day they grow before my eyes, but they’ve never had a single dignified day,” Hamdan says.
As a breastfeeding mother, she struggles to find nutritious food to keep up her milk supply.
“In this famine, even a piece of bread is a dream. I’ve spent the past week searching day and night for formula for my babies. I ask everyone I meet, but to no avail. Formula is scarce, and the price is 10 times what it used to be. My husband travels from south to north Gaza searching for a can to keep our children alive. When we finally found one, I felt my heart beating again. It was a huge victory. I clutched that bag of formula, running back to my tent, overwhelmed with relief.”
But her joy was short-lived.
“As soon as I opened the bag, I found worms and insects tangled in the formula. My heart almost stopped. A week of searching, the stress of finding enough cash to buy it — and in the end, it was spoiled.”
Paying $100 for Half a Can of Spoiled Formula
Under Gaza’s sky, another father, Moatasem Weshah, recounts his ordeal searching for formula for his one-month-old baby.
“I’ve been searching for over a week,” he says. “When I finally found a can at an astronomical price, it was expired. But I had no choice. I had to feed my baby or he would starve to death.”
He explains he could not afford the full can:
“I paid 400 shekels ($100) for just half a can of spoiled formula.”
But the infant refused to drink it.
“How could he accept spoiled milk to satisfy his hunger?” Weshah says. “He cries all night, and I cry next to him, powerless to do anything.”
He calls on the world’s conscience and humanitarian organizations to intervene urgently to stop this catastrophe.
A Pediatric Emergency
Dr. Mohammed Al-Afifi, Head of Pediatrics at the Algerian Hospital, describes the alarming health crisis facing Gaza’s infants amid the severe shortage of food and milk.
“More than 90% of infants in Gaza have no access to formula. Breastfeeding is also weak because of widespread malnutrition among women, particularly nursing mothers,” Al-Afifi explains.
He notes that the most common complications among infants caused by the famine are:
- Severe and chronic malnutrition
- Dehydration
- Weak immunity
- Diarrhea and respiratory infections, which can be fatal.
Al-Afifi warns that acute malnutrition rates among infants are rising sharply. The most vulnerable groups are premature babies (born before 37 weeks), newborns under one month old, and infants under four months old, as well as those with congenital heart, lung, or metabolic conditions.
“There is a total shortage of infant formula and therapeutic foods for babies — over 90% is unavailable,” he says.
Parents are resorting to unsafe alternatives such as giving water, herbal drinks like anise, or general-purpose UNRWA milk not designed for infants.
Al-Afifi lists symptoms in babies deprived of milk and proper nutrition:
- Constant intense crying
- Signs of dehydration
- Rapid heartbeat
- Labored breathing
- Low blood pressure
- Reduced urination and dark, sometimes blood-tinged urine
- Low blood sugar levels
He also explains how maternal malnutrition and psychological stress reduce breast milk production.
“It affects hormone release and the pineal gland in the brain, reducing prolactin — the hormone responsible for milk production,” he says.
He stresses the urgent need to provide nutritious food for nursing mothers — meat, poultry, fish, fresh vegetables, and fruit — as well as age-appropriate formula and infant food.
A Worsening Crisis
According to WHO and UN reports, around 100,000 women and children in Gaza are suffering from acute malnutrition, ranging from moderate to severe. Most of the victims are children under the age of five, including a large proportion of infants.
Reports indicate that at least 21 children under five have already died from malnutrition.
Dr. Al-Afifi sends an urgent message to the international community, “The world must act faster and more forcefully to stop this brutal war, open the crossings, and deliver proper nutrition to mothers and their infants in quantities that match the catastrophic levels of malnutrition in Gaza. This famine is killing the population — the world must move now.”
