Marah’s Death in Italy: Gaza Condemned to Starvation.
- the Observatory for Human Rights
- Aug 17
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 8
She came to Italy seeking treatment and a chance at life, but hope quickly faded for 20-year-old Marah Abu Zuhri. The young Palestinian woman, evacuated from Gaza on an Italian Air Force humanitarian flight, died only hours after arriving at a hospital in Pisa. Doctors said she was in a desperate condition, suffering from severe malnutrition that had irreversibly damaged her body. Despite immediate tests and medical intervention, a sudden respiratory crisis and cardiac arrest ended her life.
Her story is not an isolated tragedy but part of a broader catastrophe. According to United Nations figures, at least 227 people in Gaza, including more than 100 children, have died from malnutrition and hunger-related causes since the war began. The World Food Programme estimates that half a million people are on the brink of famine, while countless families go days without eating. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification has already declared that “the worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in Gaza.”
Yet, despite overwhelming evidence, Israeli authorities continue to deny the reality. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently insisted that “there is no famine in Gaza.” His words are contradicted by field reports and humanitarian testimonies. Even Donald Trump, usually a staunch ally of Israel, admitted: “Those children look very hungry… that’s real starvation.”
Behind the statistics are personal stories. Aid workers recount the case of Janah, a seven-year-old girl hospitalized again for malnutrition after previously being treated and discharged. She is just one among more than 14,800 patients still waiting to be evacuated from Gaza for urgent medical care. Malnutrition not only claims lives directly but also worsens pre-existing conditions that would otherwise be manageable.
Marah’s death in Italy stands as undeniable proof: civilians in Gaza are not only dying under bombardment but are also being slowly consumed by hunger and lack of treatment. This is not a collateral consequence of war; it is the outcome of a policy that deprives an entire population of food, medicine, and dignity.
To deny this famine is to legitimize the unjustifiable. Starvation is being wielded as a weapon of war, a silent yet devastating form of extermination. Gaza today is living evidence of that reality.
Official source:
written by Sara Maggetto
Comments