The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) Sends an urgent appeal to protect the lives of hundreds of infants and premature babies who face a real and life-threatening danger after being deprived of essential and lifesaving therapeutic milk. This appeal comes amid the ongoing full closure of Gaza’s crossings by the Israeli authorities for nearly four months, preventing the entry of humanitarian and medical aid.  Such acts constitute a war crime and an integral part of the crime of genocide ongoing for the second consecutive year.

PCHR’s follow-up indicates a severe and unprecedented shortage of therapeutic milk for premature infants across Gaza’s hospitals. Fortified milk formulas have completely run out in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), despite being essential for infants suffering from health conditions such as compromised immune systems, digestive problems, and the inability to breastfeed.

Dr. Jamil Suliman, Director of Al-Rantisi Pediatric Hospital, told PCHR’s researcher:

“Therapeutic milk for some children, particularly those suffering from gastrointestinal diseases, has been completely unavailable at the hospital for a long time. Moreover, fortified formula milk No. 1 and No. 2 for newborns are out of stock, and many mothers are unable to breastfeed due to severe malnutrition. The hospital monthly needs around 500 cans of therapeutic milk, but currently, only very limited quantities are available, which are expected to run out soon, with no resupply possible due to the ongoing and unjust siege. Doctors are unable to take the necessary measures to address the deterioration of some children’s health conditions, and deaths have already been recorded, some likely caused by the lack of therapeutic milk. We are also facing challenges in diagnosing sick children due to the lack of critical medical supplies. There is an urgent need to provide various types of therapeutic milk such as Lactose-Free (LF) Formula, AR (Anti-Reflux), Isomil, Soya-Based Formula, Hydrolyzed Formula, and standard fortified infant formula for children from birth to three years old.¹”

According to PCHR’s researcher, fortified infant formula is nearly depleted from local markets, with several types already completely out of stock. Any limited quantities available in some pharmacies are being sold at skyrocketing prices, far beyond the purchasing power of most families in the Gaza Strip. As a result, these life-saving formulas are effectively inaccessible to infants who are in urgent and desperate need.

Azhar Mohammed Warsh Agha (33), a widow living inside a tent on al-Jalaa’ Street in central Gaza City, lost her husband to the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) at the end of last year and has a 4-month-old daughter. She said to PCHR’s researcher:

“I gave birth to my daughter, Hour Ghaleb Abdel Qader Warsh Agha, by cesarean section at Patient’s Friends Hospital on 26 March 2025. The doctors placed her in the neonatal unit for several days, where she was fed therapeutic and infant formula milk due to jaundice. After a few days, she was discharged from the unit, and I continued to feed her formula infant milk for under six months old. Since the IOF closed Gaza’s crossings and blocked the entry of humanitarian relief materials into Gaza, including therapeutic and infant formula, the formula began to run out from the markets and Ministry of Health (MOH)’s warehouses. I could no longer find a suitable formula for my baby. A few days ago, I was forced to buy a can of milk not for her age, intended for babies over six months old, at a price ten times higher than usual. After I fed her this formula, she developed bloating, difficulty breathing, and severe diarrhea. I rushed her to the hospital, where doctors warned me if the diarrhea didn’t stop, she might need IV fluids to prevent dehydration. I do not know what to do or where to find proper milk for my baby. Her health is deteriorating. I’ve been diluting the formula I have and feeding it to her, even though I know how dangerous that is for her life.”

Given the ongoing situation, PCHR warns of the escalating threat to the lives of thousands of children in the Gaza Strip as malnutrition rates continue to surge alarmingly. This stark surge constitutes a blatant indicator of the complete collapse of humanitarian conditions under the ongoing Israeli siege. According to data from UNICEF-supported nutrition centers, in last May alone, a total of 5,119 cases of severe malnutrition were recorded among children aged between 6 months and 5 years, including 636 children suffering from severe and critical malnutrition, which is the most dangerous and deadly form of malnutrition. These children require immediate therapeutic interventions, including adequate nutrition, clean water, and continuous healthcare; all services that have become increasingly inaccessible due to Israel’s systematic closure of crossings and continued prevention of humanitarian aid. Since last February, the rates of severe malnutrition have increased by 146%, and 16,736 children have been admitted for treatment to hospitals from the beginning of the year until the end of May, averaging 112 children daily.² The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported the deaths of 55 children due to malnutrition,³ and this number will likely to rise if the siege and aid blockade continue.

The IOF’s prevention of the entry of food and medical supplies, including life-saving therapeutic milk, constitutes a blatant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law.  It also amounts to a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which prohibits the use of starvation as a method of warfare, including obstructing the delivery of supplies essential for the survival of the civilian population. This obstruction also constitutes a flagrant violation of binding rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered the immediate and unhindered entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Accordingly, PCHR affirms that such acts constitute part of a systematic policy of starvation and slow extermination, falling within the definition of the crime of genocide under Article 6 of the Rome Statute. They also constitute acts of genocide prohibited under Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention, which prohibits deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

PCHR points out that Israel’s recent inclusion on the United Nations’ blacklist of states and entities committing grave violations against children in armed conflicts is an explicit international acknowledgement of Israel’s responsibility for systematic crimes against Palestinian children. This inclusion is not arbitrary but is as a result of credible evidence documenting deliberate killings, starvation, denial of healthcare, and the targeting of civilian infrastructure essential for children’s survival. PCHR stresses that this step will remain insufficient unless followed by concrete actions to end the longstanding policy of impunity, launch effective investigations, ensure accountability, and impose decisive international measures to stop Israeli crimes and ensure genuine protection for Palestinian children.

Thus, PCHR calls on the international community to pressure Israel to immediately halt its ongoing crimes against Palestinian civilians and to compel it to fulfill its legal obligations by swiftly opening Gaza’s crossings and allowing the entry of humanitarian and relief aid, including life-saving therapeutic infant formula. PCHR also urges the European Commission and all European Union (EU) Member States to take tangible action, including suspension of the the EU-Israel Association Agreement. PCHR views the continuation of this agreement as a form of EU complicity in the ongoing crime of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. PCHR calls on the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health to monitor and publicly report Israel’s crimes.

1. The official page of Al-Rantisi Pediatric Pediatric Hospital on Facebook, link: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KmZ3nnt4R/ ↩︎
2. UNICEF statement, more than 5,000 children diagnosed with malnutrition in the Gaza Strip in May, link: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/more-5000-children-diagnosed-malnutrition-gaza-strip-may ↩︎
3. UN News, at least 50 children reported dead from malnutrition: https://news.un.org/ar/story/2025/05/1141476 ↩︎