The war inside the bodies of Gaza's children

Najah Barbakh cups her daughter's tiny head in her hands. 

Seela was born in Gaza just last year. But she is already fighting for her life. She's in the grips of severe malnutrition, weighing a mere four kilograms; doctors say at her age, she should weigh nearly 10. 

"Since I delivered her, she has been small," says Najah. "Her condition gets worse inside the hospital, and every time I go home, I find her becoming more weak."

The United Nations relief agency, UNRWA, says it's identified nearly 25,000 children suffering from malnutrition. 

Aid groups have provided hospitals with nutritional supplements which treat the condition. But supplies have dwindled to a critical level. 

"We only have 3,000 cartons of these nutritional supplies," says Salim Oweis, a spokesperson for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). "That means we can treat only 3,000 children, and that's really dangerous at the moment." 

UNICEF provided nutritional packs to 5,000 malnourished children in the first two weeks of July. Based on those numbers, it could run out of supplies by mid-August. 

Gaza is suffering from dire shortages of food and medicine as Israel continues its conflict with militant group Hamas. The Israel government has controlled the distribution of aid for most of the war, but claims it's not responsible. 

It says Hamas fighters steal supplies meant for hungry citizens. An assessment by USAID found no evidence that Hamas looted aid supplied by the United States between October 2023 and May this year. Nearly 30 countries have also spoken out, releasing a statement this week that lays the blame squarely with Israel. 

'This is the right of the children'  

"It's really imperative to allow aid in," says Oweis. "This is the right of the people, the right of the children, even when the war is still ongoing."

But some children will continue to suffer, even if aid does arrive. Experts say infants with malnutrition can feel the effects for the rest of their lives. 

"There's something called the thousand days window which looks at nutrition from conception to two years," says Kirk Prichard, a program head at charity Concern Worldwide. 

"And if you're severely, acutely malnourished during that time, you're going to have more likelihood of a lower IQ. You're going to have lower height, you're going to have lower weight. It's going to affect you for the rest of your life."

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that 21 children under five had died of malnutrition this year in Gaza. Najah Barbakh is hoping, desperately, that Seela does not suffer the same fate. 

"I want food to feed her so she can grow up and live her life. The children of Gaza are dying of hunger. The children of Gaza have run out of food, and they are dying."

Gaza has been a warzone for nearly two years. But for children like Seela, the war is not just raging outside. It's also in their tiny bodies – bodies fighting every day to survive.