Siwar Ashour is a six-month-old baby, born on 11-20-2022. Because of this, she has become one of the most iconic symbols of the humanitarian crisis occurring in Gaza today. Siwar’s weight is only 2-4 kg, way below the 6 kg her age should be. As a consequence, she is now battling deadly malnutrition. Her situation captures the heartbreaking effects of war and lack that threaten countless families across the Middle East.
Ameri Rahuma’s mother, Siwar Ashour, is a 23-year-old woman who is afraid every day. Though poverty, insecurity, and stigma almost seem insurmountable, she is relentless in ensuring her daughter has proper nutrition. Siwar in mid-March at a hospital in Deir al-Balah. A special high-protein milk-based formula helped her put on weight, bringing her up to 4 kg, but now another major hurdle looms for the family. Najwa has to depend on charitable food providers, like charity kitchens for instance. Without a stable source of income, it’s hard to afford Siwar a specialist diet.
Najwa recalls her experience with breastfeeding. “I am also suffering from malnutrition. Still, I try to breastfeed Siwar, but she refuses and continues to cry, completely rejecting me,” she shared. The situation is further exacerbated by the limited availability of formula: “One can of formula would last a month. Now it runs out in less than a week,” she stated.
The Ashour family’s agony is deepened by the senseless war that has ravaged Gaza since Siwar was born. Her father, Saleh Ashour, who is blind, was not allowed to join Najwa and Siwar in the hospital for care and treatment and had to stay behind in al-Nuseirat. Their home had been previously bombed during the course of the war, forcing them into a life of unstable shelter. Najwa expressed the emotional toll this situation takes on their family: “Seeing my daughter in this state every day gives me insomnia.”
Healthcare professionals like Dr. Kholoud al-Ashkar, a pediatrician working in Gaza, are horrified as they watch malnutrition among children spike. Local pediatrician Dr. Ahmed al-Farah could not stress enough the seriousness of the situation. “We’re seeing severe cases. Malnutrition appears in children in a horrifying and extremely visible way,” he stated. He explained how the congestion in hospitals damages health, forcing more disease transmission onto vulnerable children.
“The scarcity of nutritious food is evident. ‘We have nothing to offer them. They need proteins, but there are none. We try to provide a little milk, perhaps powdered milk, but we can’t offer anything more,’ Dr. al-Farah added.”
Najwa’s concerns go beyond Siwar’s short-term health, as she recently learned she is pregnant with a second child. “I live in terror of losing Siwar before my brother or sister is born,” she confessed. The psychological toll of her daughter’s illness puts an immense burden on her heart. “He fears for her even more than I do – he is deeply attached to her,” Najwa said of her husband.
Even through these trials, jubilant glimpses into the lives of Najwa and Siwar appear. “I noticed that Siwar started to smile and play, which made me happy and gave me hope that her health might improve,” Najwa reflected.
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza grows exponentially, families like the Ashours face the sobering reality of each day drowning in despair and struggle. Dr. al-Farah calls on the international community for awareness and support: “I call on the world to see us as human beings – we were created just like everyone else.”