{"id":17386,"date":"2025-05-13T17:44:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T17:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/?p=17386"},"modified":"2025-05-13T17:44:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T17:44:15","slug":"the-starving-face-of-gaza-six-month-old-siwar-becomes-symbol-of-war-induced-famine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/2025\/05\/13\/the-starving-face-of-gaza-six-month-old-siwar-becomes-symbol-of-war-induced-famine\/","title":{"rendered":"The Starving Face of Gaza: Six-Month-Old Siwar Becomes Symbol of War-Induced Famine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watan<\/strong><\/em>-The Guardian published a report by Malak Tantoush and Julian Borger highlighting a harrowing image from Gaza that shocked the world\u2014a close-up of Siwar Ashour, a six-month-old girl who was born during the war and has never known peace. Her frail frame has come to represent Gaza\u2019s deliberate starvation.<\/p>\n

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When her photo was shared this week by the BBC, it caused a global stir. Suwar was born on November 20, 2023, weighing just 2.5 kg. Since birth, she has suffered from esophageal issues that made breastfeeding nearly impossible, forcing reliance on baby formula\u2014rarely available in the besieged enclave.<\/p>\n

Her parents\u2019 home in Al-Nuseirat was destroyed in the early days of the war in October 2023. The family lived in a tent under constant bombardment with limited access to food and water. They later moved into Siwar\u2019s grandparents\u2019 partially destroyed house\u2014eleven people crammed into a single remaining room, where Siwar was born.<\/p>\n

Her 23-year-old mother, Najwa A’ram, recalled:\u201cI was exhausted all the time. There was no privacy or rest. When Siwar was born, she was already weak. She was beautiful despite the signs of hunger on her face. But now she\u2019s alarmingly thin. At six months, she should weigh 6 kg\u2014but she\u2019s only 2 kg.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Gaza famine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A Mother\u2019s Despair: Siwar\u2019s Life Hangs in the Balance Amid Gaza\u2019s Man-Made Famine<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Last month, Najwa learned she was pregnant again. She lives in fear of losing Siwar before her sibling is born. She relocated to Khan Younis with her mother, while her blind husband, Saleh, remained in Nuseirat. Constant airstrikes forced the family to relocate multiple times.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Najwa said her husband, though blind, formed a deep bond with Siwar and visited her at the hospital with help:
\u201cHe’s more scared for her than I am. He\u2019s emotionally attached to her in ways I can\u2019t explain.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family survives on humanitarian aid, which is increasingly scarce under Israel\u2019s siege. UNRWA Director Philippe Lazzarini stated this week:\u201cThe Gaza famine, man-made and politically driven, is the purest form of cruelty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Najwa and her mother now live on a bag of flour and a few cans of food:\u201cWhen that runs out, we have no money to buy anything\u2014not even Siwar\u2019s baby formula. I\u2019m malnourished myself, and though I try to breastfeed her, she rejects me and cries constantly. A formula can that used to last a month now lasts only a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

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