I am a lactation consultant. I help parents to chest or breastfeed their babies. That is my passion, to feed the baby.
It has been estimated that exclusive and continued breastfeeding could save 823,000 children’s lives each year worldwide. (Lancet, 2016) My training informs me that during war, displacement, and famine, providing infants with human milk is even more important. Infants and young children are extremely vulnerable in emergencies; babies who do not receive human milk in emergency situations are more susceptible to infection, malnutrition, and death. (Bilgin & Karabayır, 2024)
Under the circumstances faced in Gaza, where there is limited access to clean water for safe formula preparation, and for cleaning of feeding supplies, human milk is critical for survival. International guidance for infant and young children feeding in emergencies promotes human milk feeding as a first choice for infants in emergency situations. (Bilgin & Karabayır, 2024)
I wondered how parents in Gaza were feeding their babies in the middle of a genocide. While being bombed by Israel. While being starved by Israel. I wondered where they were receiving support for breastfeeding or if they were on their own. I learned of an organization in Palestine called GINA, the Gaza Infant Nutrition Alliance. The nurses who work with GINA help new parents to nourish their babies through breastfeeding, despite a severe lack of resources. They are delivering food packages to lactating parents, and providing guidance and support for initiating and continuing breastfeeding in Nasser, Al Awdeh, Al Helou, and Al aqsa hospitals, and in the Mwasi Clinic. (GINA, n.d.)
Starving parents can produce milk but they do so at the expense of their own physical well-being. Their bodies prioritize lactation, removing nutritional reserves from blood and bone. The Gaza Infant Nutrition Alliance nurses and physicians have had to educate lactating parents that even though they are starving, their breastmilk is still good enough to feed their babies. One nurse from GINA named Shaheda, who is supporting new mothers and parents in the hospital, has had to them, “Please do not let your lack of food or water stop you from breastfeeding.” (GINA, 2025)
As their starvation progressed, GINA lactation consultants counseled parents that they would not be expecting to produce enough milk to support growth of their infants and only to sustain their survival. We are hearing from the GINA lactation consultants that some birthing parents do not want to breastfeed their babies because they fear that their infants will refuse to accept substitutes if they die. At a time that should be joyous, new parents are preparing for their own deaths. This is horrifying.
The Gaza Nutrition Infant Alliance is fighting an uphill battle. The food packages they provide to lactating parents are becoming more difficult to prepare as food supplies become scarce. Hospitals have run out of commercial infant formula to feed fragile babies in neonatal intensive care. Infants in incubators are starving while food and formula sits in trucks only miles away.
According to a report developed by Defense for Children International – Palestine, in collaboration with Doctors Against Genocide, “Israeli authorities have deliberately weaponized starvation as a method of genocide, resulting in the preventable deaths and suffering of Palestinian children in Gaza, that will carry negative impacts for generations to come.” (DCIP, 2025)
Key Findings:
- Famine has been present in the Gaza Strip since at least early 2024, when the first Palestinian children died of starvation due to Israel’s closure of north Gaza.
- Starvation of children is a key mechanism in Israel’s campaign of genocide and has been from the beginning, targeting existing and future generations of Palestinian children and families.
- Refusal by the international community to declare famine, acknowledge Israeli officials’ genocidal intent, and break Israel’s siege has paved the way for the starvation of more children.
- Palestinian newborns, infants, and children with chronic illnesses are among the most vulnerable to the effects of malnutrition and dehydration.
- Starvation occurring in Gaza now will negatively impact Palestinian children and families for generations to come. (DCIP, 2025)
Doctors Against Genocide explains in the report that there are long-term and often irreversible effects of starvation of children, including stunted growth, neurological damage, weakened immune systems, and permanent cognitive impairment. (DCIP, 2025) And of course, the potential for death. Along with these medical and developmental effects, there exist deep psychological consequences of unrelenting hunger. (DCIP, 2025)
The report brings attention to U.S. complicity in the replacement of international aid with private security contractors that are operating deadly “distribution hubs” in Gaza where hundreds of Palestinians have been shot or killed while attempting to access food. (DCIP, 2025) “The report’s legal analysis concludes that Israel’s starvation policies constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide” (DCIP, 2025).
We must do everything in our power to break the siege, allow food and medicine to reach starving Palestinians, and feed all of the babies. We must facilitate an arms embargo such that Israel can no longer continue the bombing, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian babies, children, their parents, and all Palestinian people.
It is our obligation under international law. It is our obligation as human beings.
Free Palestine!
References:
Bilgin, D. D., & Karabayır, N. (2024). Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies: A Narrative Review. Turkish Archives of Pediatrics, 59(2), 135–143. https://doi.org/10.5152/TurkArchPediatr.2024.23184
DCIP. (2025, June 24). “Starving a Generation” report indicts Israel for weaponizing starvation as a tool of genocide. Defense for Children International Palestine. https://www.dci palestine.org/starving_a_generation_report_indicts_israel_for_weaponizing_starvation_as_a_tool_of_genocide
GINA. (n.d.). Gaza Infant Nutrition Alliance. Gaza Infant Nutrition Alliance. Retrieved July 3, 2025, from https://www.gina.org.uk
