SHOTLIST: GAZA, PALESTINE (SEPTEMBER 26, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL) 1. CHILDREN’S WARD AT AL-AQSA MARTYRS HOSPITAL 2. FAMILIES WITH THEIR CHILDREN IN HOSPITAL ROOM 3. VARIOUS OF MALNOURISHED TWO-YEAR-OLD IMAD AFRIH, WEAK IN HOSPITAL BED, WITH SKIN DISEASE VISIBLE 4. GRANDMOTHER UMM MOHAMMAD SPEAKING TO REPORTER 5. VARIOUS OF GRANDMOTHER UMM MOHAMMAD CARING FOR IMAD 6. DR. IYAD, PEDIATRIC SPECIALIST AT AL-AQSA MARTYRS HOSPITAL, SPEAKING TO REPORTER (ENGLISH) 7. DR. IYAD PROVIDING MEDICAL CARE TO IMAD GAZA, PALESTINE - SEPTEMBER 26, 2025: As the death toll from Israel’s starvation policy continues to climb in the besieged Gaza Strip, Palestinian children are fighting for their lives amid catastrophic conditions. In Khan Younis, two-year-old Imad Afrih has become a haunting symbol of Gaza’s descent into famine. Once weighing 12 kilograms, Imad has withered to barely 5 or 6 kilograms, his tiny body ravaged by severe malnutrition and protein-phosphorus deficiency caused by Israel’s blockade and systematic denial of food and medical aid. "There wasn’t even a piece of bread left in our tent," said his grandmother, Umm Mohammad. "Because of Israel’s imposed starvation and the closed borders, we couldn’t find flour. He fainted from hunger, and we can’t get the medicines he needs for treatment." Dr. Iyad, a pediatric specialist at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, told Anadolu that Imad has been under treatment for two months. "Imad is suffering from severe medical complications caused by extreme malnutrition," he said. "A lack of protein in his blood has led to widespread swelling. His immune system has collapsed, and bacterial skin infections have spread, no longer responding to intravenous antibiotics. We’re giving him fluids and protein, but without essential drugs or lab facilities, proper treatment is almost impossible." Since March 2, Israel has closed all crossings into Gaza, preventing food, medicine, and humanitarian aid from entering, plunging the enclave into famine despite the buildup of relief trucks at its borders. The UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said Friday that one in three children in the Gaza Strip had no food at all over the past 24 hours due to the lack of supplies caused by the Israeli blockade. Israel has been starving Palestinians as part of a genocide it has waged against them for two years, killing 442 Palestinians as part of a wider toll of 65,502 killed and 167,376 injured, most of them women and children, in bloody attacks. In a brief statement, UNRWA said: “According to a rapid needs assessment in #Gaza by the IRC, one in three young children went a full day without food in the past 24 hours.” On Wednesday, the International Rescue Committee said in a statement: “One in three young children went a full day without food in the past 24 hours, 70% of children are having trouble sleeping and nearly one in five are withdrawn or silent.” On Aug. 22, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Global Initiative declared famine in Gaza City and warned it would spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September. Last week, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory confirmed that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.