“ My youngest child does not know what the fruits ” looks like ”

Residents of the Gaza Strip have described to the BBC the effects that a lack of food has on their bodies, after a report supported by a non-dossier confirmed famine in the territory for the first time.

Reem Tawfiq Khader, 41, mother of five children from Gaza City, said: “The famine declaration has arrived too late, but it is still important.

“We haven’t eaten protein for five months. My youngest child is four years old – he doesn’t know what fruits and vegetables look like.”

The UN says that Israel has strongly limited the amount of aid entering Gaza, which Israel denies.

Israel also denies that there is famine on the territory, in direct contradiction with what more than 100 humanitarian groups, witnesses on the ground, and several UN bodies say.

On Friday, the classification of the Integrated Integrated Food Security phase (IPC) said that there was a “fully artificial” famine in Gaza City and its surroundings.

He warned that more than half a million people through the Gaza Strip were faced with “catastrophic” conditions characterized by “famine, destitution and death”.

Rajaa Talbeh, 47, mother of six, said that she had lost 25 kg (55 pounds). She fled her house in the Zeitoun district of Gaza City a month ago and now lives in a makeshift tent near the beach.

She suffers from gluten intolerance and said that she could no longer find food that she could eat.

“Before the war, a charity helped me get gluten-free products, which I could never afford,” she said.

“Since the beginning of the war, I do not find what I need on the market, and even when I do it, I can’t afford it. Isn’t that enough to deal with daily bombing, moving and living in a tent that protects us or the heat of summer or the cold of winter – and now the famine in addition?”

More than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli army began its operation, in response to the attack led by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 other people were taken hostage.

Since the start of the war, at least 271 people, including 112 children, have died of “famine and malnutrition”, according to the Ministry of Health of Hamas in Gaza.

Another woman, Aseel, who lives in Gaza City, said: “Five months ago, I weighed 56 kg (123 pounds). Today, I only weigh 46 kg (101 pounds).”

She said she hadn’t eaten a single piece of fruit or meat for months and had spent almost all of her economy in basic ingredients to survive.

Aseel’s sister -in -law – with whom she lives – has a one month old baby.

“She desperately looked for baby formulas at a reasonable price,” said Aseel.

She said that when they could find it, it costs up to 180 shekels (£ 39) per box.

“I don’t have food storage, not enough to last a week or two,” she added.

“Like thousands of people, we live day after day.”

Additional report by Freya Scott-Turner