\n<\/p>\n
As the U.S.<\/span> public begins to wake up to the reality of mass starvation in Gaza, recent mainstream media reports have issued a bold claim: Some cases of starvation can be explained not by the Israeli government\u2019s near-total blockade on food, but by chronic illnesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n The New York Post attempted to cast doubt on reports of starvation by suggesting that a small child\u2019s skeletal frame was caused not by famine<\/a>, but by cerebral palsy and other genetic disorders \u2014 as if a medical diagnosis could somehow cancel out the consequences of hunger. The New York Times issued a correction<\/a> to its own story concerning the same child, noting that while he did suffer severe malnutrition, he \u201calso had pre-existing health problems.\u201d<\/p>\n But for those living with chronic illness or disability in Gaza, hunger is not separate from their condition \u2014 it is made worse by it. Medications have disappeared. Treatments have stopped. And basic survival has become a daily battle. Under total blockade, diabetes or a thyroid condition can become a death sentence.<\/p>\n The Intercept spoke to nine Palestinians with chronic illnesses or disabilities across Gaza, including two children, many of whom agreed to be interviewed on the condition that only their first name be published. Their experiences reveal that illness and starvation are deeply interconnected. Rather than explaining the other away, they intensify each other.<\/p>\n Every day, Deya\u2019a<\/span>, <\/strong>16, hopes to find a vial of insulin. But pharmacies are empty, aid rarely arrives, and electricity cuts stretch for hours, sometimes days, threatening to spoil what little insulin he manages to secure.<\/p>\n \u201cI speak from a place where tomorrow is uncertain,\u201d he told The Intercept.\u00a0<\/p>\n Living with diabetes was difficult in Gaza before the war, but Israel\u2019s attacks have made his condition life-threatening on a daily basis.<\/p>\n \u201cI often inject less than the required dose, and sometimes I skip it entirely, knowing it\u2019s slowly destroying me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n When his sugar drops, there is nothing to eat. No sugar cubes, no dates, not even bread. Hunger is indiscriminate, devouring both the sick and the healthy alike.<\/p>\n When his sugar spikes, Deya\u2019a struggles to bring it down.\u00a0<\/p>\n Without blood sugar test strips, he cannot tell whether his blood sugar levels are too high or too low. He only recognizes danger through sudden symptoms: dizziness, profuse sweating, blurred vision, or collapse.<\/p>\n Beyond the physical toll, Deya\u2019a said, the psychological strain is crushing. Fear, anxiety, grief, and loss push his blood sugar higher.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not asking for much,\u201d he said. \u201cJust to live. To find my medication. To feel safe. To dream of a tomorrow where my illness does not suffocate me, and war does not kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n