Two years of intense bombardment in Gaza have destroyed or damaged most housing, forcing families into overcrowded tent camps. Children face severe harm: many have been killed or injured, and some show signs of malnutrition and psychological trauma, including forgetting colors and shapes of food. A UN-backed panel declared famine in Gaza City and nearby areas and warned that half a million people face catastrophic conditions, with famine projected to spread south to areas such as Deir al Balah. Access to basic necessities is severely limited; residents depend on irregular water deliveries and queue with empty jerricans for scarce supplies.
Two years is a long time in the life of a 7-year-old. Maria Al Fiqi's mother has found her a coloring book with pictures of fruit in it. But she's stuck on one page. "What is this?" she asks her mother. She doesn't know what color to use. "Yellow," her mother says. It's a pineapple. Over the past two years of the war in Gaza, her mother told me, Maria has "forgotten the colors and even the shapes of food."
As of May, more than 50,000 children had been killed or injured, according to UNICEF, since Israel's bombardment of Gaza began. A panel of food-security experts backed by the United Nations declared last week that there is famine in Gaza City and nearby areas, and it says that half a million people face "catastrophic" conditions. The panel projects that famine will spread south in the coming weeks, to areas such as Deir al Balah.
Israel's bombardments have damaged or destroyed most of the housing in Gaza, including Maria's. Her family-her mother, Islam; her father, Rami; and her siblings, Bayan, Malak, and Fida-moved here after they lost their home, a rented apartment in Jabalia refugee camp. The camp was established by the UN in 1948 and had been built up over the decades into an urban neighborhood, before being largely demolished early in the war.
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