Twelve-year-old Rahaf Ayyad, a malnourished child living in northern Gaza, is wasting away from an undiagnosed illness while Israel continues to block humanitarian aid from entering the war-torn territory.
Since the border closures on March 2, aid groups have been unable to deliver food, medicine, or medical equipment to Gaza, leaving hospitals in collapse and patients like Rahaf without treatment.
Once healthy, Rahaf is now so thin her bones are visible. Her hair has begun to fall out and she can no longer walk without help.
“I want to be like before,” she says in a widely shared video, tears streaming down her face.
Rahaf’s parents brought her to Rantisi Children's Hospital in Gaza City, but the facility is unequipped to diagnose or treat her properly.
Ragheb Warsh Agha, the head of gastroenterology at the hospital, said tests showed protein loss in Rahaf’s urine and severe malnutrition.
They believe her condition existed before the war, but was controlled with proper nutrition. They warn that her weakened immune system could lead to fatal infections.
“We don’t have labs, medical equipment, or drugs,” said Agha, adding that Rahaf’s only chance is to leave Gaza. “This child needs to be evacuated immediately.”
Her mother, Shuruk Ayyad, described watching her daughter deteriorate. “Her bones hurt. Her hair is falling out. Every day, she gets worse,” she said. “I want the border to open. I want my daughter to be treated. I want her to live.”
Doctors at other hospitals echo the concern: even with a diagnosis, they cannot help her.
Rahaf’s story has come to symbolize Gaza’s broader humanitarian catastrophe, where children are dying not just from war, but from preventable conditions left untreated in isolation.
