SHOTLIST:

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA, PALESTINE (SEPT. 29, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR OF NASSER HOSPITAL IN GAZA

2. VARIOUS OF MAY ABU ARAR, 7-YEAR-OLD PALESTINIAN GIRL SUFFERING MALNUTRITION AMID ISRAELI BLOCKADE

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) NADYA ABU ARAR, MOTHER OF MAY, SPEAKING TO REPORTER, SAYING:

"I am Nadya Muhammad Abu Arar, the mother of May Abu Arar, who is suffering from severe malnutrition. She is seven years old and had no previous illnesses other than the malnutrition she is now experiencing, which has caused her hair to fall out, her body to waste away, and left her unable to walk. She cannot stand, and even putting on clothes or going to the bathroom has become difficult for her.

Her weight was 20 kilograms before the war; now it is only 12. We have been staying in the hospital for five months, and her weight and health continue to deteriorate. We were displaced from the north to the south because the situation became more dangerous and tragic. Her grandfather is still in the north, and the conditions there are unbearable.

We were first at Rantisi Hospital but, after the hospital was bombed, we fled and brought her to Nasser Hospital. There is no food, no milk for children, and no clean water because the crossings are closed and nothing is allowed in. The situation is very difficult in Gaza.

Sometimes I manage to get milk or water for her, but not always. When aid arrives, we survive on it; when it doesn’t, we go hungry. My daughter now lives only on milk and water when it’s available. I am afraid she will die. I pray to God to keep my daughter alive and I hope she can travel abroad for treatment. I also hope for all the children suffering from malnutrition to be saved and for this war on us to end."

4. MOTHER OF MAY, SHOWING HER DAUGHTER'S OLD PHOTOS ON PHONE (TWO SHOTS)

5. VARIOUS OF MAY IN CRITICAL CONDITION, CRYING IN PAIN

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AHED KHALAF, DOCTOR AT NASSER HOSPITAL, SPEAKING TO REPORTER, SAYING:

[...] "She has been given alternative treatment since albumin was unavailable. In such cases, plasma is used as a substitute for albumin, adjusted according to her medical history.

Prior to this, May had no illnesses or chronic conditions and had a healthy weight of 20 kilograms. However, due to the blockade, war, and lack of access to food and medical care, she became severely malnourished. Children in Gaza rely on canned food, as fresh food, fruits, and vegetables are largely unavailable. This has caused a dramatic decline in her health. Over three months, her weight dropped by approximately seven kilograms. She suffers from muscle wasting, inability to move properly, hair loss, and severe skin and body lesions caused by electrolyte and nutrient deficiencies.

May cannot move independently and relies entirely on her family and medical staff for assistance. At seven years old, she is unable to eat, play, or care for herself like other children, which has caused her significant emotional distress.

Her condition is a direct result of the war, the blockade, closed crossings, lack of humanitarian aid, insufficient nutritional supplements, lack of milk and food for children, displacement, and the collapse of Gaza’s health system. The healthcare infrastructure is insufficient to meet the needs of children like May. We call on the international community to provide urgent assistance."

7. VARIOUS OF MAY IN CRITICAL CONDITION, CRYING IN PAIN KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA, PALESTINE - SEPT. 29, 2025: A 7-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza has lost the ability to walk after her weight fell from 20 kilograms to 12 due to malnutrition under Israel’s blockade of the enclave.

May Abu Arar is receiving treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where her frail body and hair loss reflect the devastating effects of hunger and lack of medicine under Israel’s nearly two-year blockade-driven policy of genocide and starvation in Gaza. Doctors said her condition worsened as Israel continued to block the entry of food and medical supplies into the territory.

Her mother, Nadya Abu Arar, said her daughter was healthy before Israel’s genocidal assaults and blockade. “Her weight was 20 kilograms before the war; now it is only 12. We have been staying in the hospital for five months, and her weight and health continue to deteriorate,” she told Anadolu.

She added that the family often goes to sleep hungry and survives only on aid provided by charities and, when available, milk. “I am afraid she will die. I pray to God to keep my daughter alive and I hope she can travel abroad for treatment,” she said.

May and her family were also displaced several times by Israeli attacks. She was initially treated at Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza City, but as Israel intensified its strikes, her family transferred her to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Dr. Ahed Khalaf, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, said May’s condition is a direct result of severe malnutrition and the collapse of Gaza’s health system under the blockade. “She suffers from muscle wasting, inability to move properly, hair loss, and severe skin and body lesions caused by electrolyte and nutrient deficiencies,” he said, stressing that the lack of essential medicines and equipment prevents doctors from providing full treatment.

Khalaf underlined that fruits and vegetables, essential for children’s healthy development, are unavailable in Gaza. He described May’s case as a reflection of the collapsed health system in Gaza as a result of Israel’s blockade and genocide.

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.

Israel occasionally allows in very limited amounts of aid, but these fail to meet even the minimum needs of the starving population. Most trucks, moreover, are looted by gangs that Gaza’s authorities say are protected by Israel.

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.