17/08/2025
Reduced Insulin Doses Seventeen-year-old Diaa Ashour faces the same ordeal. He explains that his constant hypoglycemia worsens since his insulin doses have been cut. “I used to take 8 doses, now only a quarter of that. The 24-hour insulin used to be 18 units daily; now I only get half. It leaves me exhausted and unable to live normally.”Children with Diabetes… Ongoing Suffering Amid Famine
Palestine
With the continued siege and starvation war on the Gaza Strip, thousands of children suffer from severe malnutrition, a dangerous and often fatal form of undernourishment.
By: Hidaya Mohammed Al-Tatar
Thursday, August 14, 2025
In a house rebuilt after war damage, a blonde, blue-eyed little girl lies with her frail body, clearly showing signs of acute malnutrition. She has been deprived of most foods she needs due to her health condition: type 1 diabetes and wheat allergy.
Severe Malnutrition
Her mother explains to al-Akhbar that her daughter, Sham Halawa (7 years old), had been in excellent health until diabetes struck at the age of three. “The shock was when her HbA1c test came back at 13.5, which damaged her small intestine, leading to severe celiac disease. That in turn affected her intestinal endocrine glands, leaving her dependent on a special diet free of starches and processed sugars.”
The mother adds that her daughter relied mainly on meat, fish, vegetables, cheese, and raw nuts. But now she cannot provide proper food, medicine, or glucose test strips. This has caused Sham to develop severe malnutrition, acidosis, gas buildup, and hypoglycemia that forced her into intensive care several times—the latest only a week ago.
“With sugar now 8000 times its normal price, the only option left is giving her bread to raise her blood sugar,” the mother says, “but it takes too long to work, worsens her intestinal pain due to wheat allergy, and weakens her further.” Her calcium, vitamin B, and immunity levels have dropped to zero. The mother pleads: “I call on every living conscience to help save my daughter’s life before death takes her.”
Expired Test Strips
Nine-year-old Iyad Tafeesh suffers similarly from repeated hypoglycemia due to uncontrolled high blood sugar. “I just wish my blood sugar could be normal like other children’s,” he says sadly, “so my mother wouldn’t have to struggle every day looking for flour to make bread just so I can survive.”
He says he needs glucose test strips, insulin pens, vegetables, fruits, and grapes “so I can be healthier and help my mother fetch water and collect firewood.”
His widowed mother explains through tears: “My child needs his sugar checked at least seven times a day, but I only manage three checks now using expired strips—and even those are running out.”
She recalls waking him at night when his sugar dropped to 40, giving him something to prevent coma. “Now I can only shake his body to make sure he is still conscious.” With no breadwinner, she barely manages to buy flour. Recently she bought insulin pens at an exorbitant price—only to find the next day that they spoiled due to lack of refrigeration in the scorching heat. “It broke my heart to see my son waiting for the life-saving dose, only for it to go to waste.”
Reduced Insulin Doses
Seventeen-year-old Diaa Ashour faces the same ordeal. He explains that his constant hypoglycemia worsens since his insulin doses have been cut. “I used to take 8 doses, now only a quarter of that. The 24-hour insulin used to be 18 units daily; now I only get half. It leaves me exhausted and unable to live normally.”
Once, while carrying large water containers, he felt dizzy and his vision blurred. He rushed back to his tent and ate some peanut butter, which lifted his sugar just in time.
Deaths Among Children
Awni Shwaikh, director of the Haifa Association for Children with Diabetes, confirms that four diabetic children have died this year due to lack of treatment and starvation. He notes that around 2,500 children in Gaza had diabetes by 2023, with the association serving about 800 registered cases.
Shwaikh explains that the association struggles to provide test strips and insulin pens, which “Israel deliberately bans from entering Gaza to kill children by denying them treatment.” He appeals for urgent intervention to allow these essential medical supplies in, stressing that “children are being deprived not just of their childhood rights, but their most basic human right—access to medicine.”
Endocrinologist Dr. Awni Al-Jarou warns that starvation poses grave risks for diabetic children, often leading to intensive care admission. “Type 1 diabetic children must take insulin to prevent organ damage. But they also need food before each dose, or they face severe hypoglycemia and possibly coma.”
He adds that without regular blood sugar monitoring, a child may collapse suddenly: “Low sugar can go unnoticed, leading to rapid heartbeat, blurred vision, or fainting—as has already happened to many sick children.”Once, while carrying large water containers, he felt dizzy and his vision blurred. He rushed back to his tent and ate some peanut butter, which lifted his sugar just in time.
مع استمرار الحصار وحرب التجويع على قطاع غزة، يعاني آلاف الأطفال من سوء التغذية الوخيم، وهو شكل حاد ومميت في كثير من الأحيان من أشكال سوء التغذية.
