One morning in Deir Al Balah, Gaza, Eman Al Noori sent her three youngest sons to a nearby clinic.
They heard a delivery of food supplements was being distributed, supplies that are precious in a place where empty shelves and growling stomachs have become part of daily life.
Amir, only five years old, clutched his older brother Omar’s hand, while three-year-old Siraj followed close behind with their cousin. The clinic was not far, a short walk from their home, but for children who had not eaten properly for days, it felt like a journey of hope.
It was cut short when, moments later, they were among eight children – including a one-year-old – who were killed in an Israeli strike outside the clinic.
“I remember Amir’s face before he left,” the boys' mother told The National. “He asked for food when he woke up, so he went to get some food supplements.”
Not long after they left, a terrifying sound split the morning air, a thunderclap that no mother in Gaza ever grows used to. Ms Al Noori's heart dropped.
She turned to her husband with panic in her voice. “I told him 'I’m scared'. Maybe it hit where the children went. And I just ran.”
The streets were chaotic. People were screaming. She followed the dust and smoke to the clinic, where she saw a donkey cart being loaded with small, broken bodies. The ambulance had not yet arrived.
“I saw Amir … my baby … he was already gone. His cousin, too. They were lying side by side, not moving. And Omar … Omar was still alive, but bleeding so much. They tried to save him, but the shrapnel hit the back of his head. He died before they could help him.”
Siraj, her youngest, is barely clinging on to life. Shrapnel has torn through his small head and one of his eyes is destroyed. At the hospital, he lies still, connected to machines that hum and blink, his mother keeping vigil by his side.
“I lost two of my sons in one morning,” she said, her voice raw. “They just wanted to eat. That’s why they left the house. They thought they’d come back with food. Now I will never hear Amir laugh again. Omar used to play with his younger brothers. They were waiting for a truce so they could go back outside to play again. But what does a truce mean now?”
“I have Ahmad, 13, and Mohammed, 12 … and Siraj. Siraj now. He’s my last little one. I don’t want him to lose his eye. I want to take him out, to somewhere he can be treated properly. He deserves to see the world with both eyes. He deserves a chance.”
Her voice steadied for a moment. “I will put everything I have into saving him. He’s my last hope. My heart is shattered but for Siraj, I have to stay standing.”
One in 10 children screened in clinics run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza is malnourished, the agency said on Tuesday.
"Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on March 2," said UNRWA's director of communications, Juliette Touma.
Officials in Gaza say Israel's war has killed about 58,400 Palestinians and injured more than 139,000 – many of them women and children – since the war began after the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
