A photograph of an emaciated child wrapped only in a makeshift nappy fashioned from a plastic bag has shocked the world, laying bare the humanitarian nightmare unfolding in Gaza.
Taken by Palestinian journalist Ahmed al-Arini, the image of 18-month-old Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq has become the tragic symbol of a population teetering on the brink of famine.
The haunting photo shows Muhammad cradled in his mother’s arms inside a barren tent in Gaza City. His limbs are thin, his ribs clearly visible, and his face is gaunt. His mother, herself visibly malnourished, gazes ahead with a mixture of exhaustion and despair. A tiny oven sits in the corner of the tent, the only sign of sustenance in an otherwise empty shelter.
“I took this photo because I wanted to show the rest of the world the extreme hunger that babies and children are suffering from in the Gaza Strip,” al-Arini told the BBC. “It resembles a tomb,” he added, describing the desolate space where he found the mother and child.
According to al-Arini, Muhammad and his mother were displaced from northern Gaza by the ongoing war and have received virtually no aid. When the photograph was taken on July 21, Muhammad had not had any baby formula, milk, or nutritional supplements for weeks. He now weighs just six kilograms, three kilograms less than he did months ago and nearly half the healthy average for his age.
The photo has spread rapidly across global media and social platforms, sparking outrage and renewed calls for humanitarian intervention. The United Nations and over 100 NGOs have issued dire warnings this week that hundreds of thousands in Gaza — particularly children — are facing starvation.
While Palestinians accuse Israel of imposing a near-total blockade, Israel maintains that it is Hamas who is obstructing aid. “We want aid to reach civilians,” an Israeli government spokesperson said, “but Hamas is exploiting the crisis for propaganda and war purposes.”
On Thursday, Israel announced it was pulling its delegation out of ceasefire talks in Doha, raising fears that any pause in fighting — and potential aid corridor — remains far off. Hamas has expressed surprise at the move and insists it is still committed to negotiations.
But for the two million civilians in Gaza, time is running out. Food is scarce, medical supplies are dwindling, and electricity remains largely cut off. The UN's human rights office reported that over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while attempting to retrieve food from humanitarian distribution points in the past two months.
The UN agency UNICEF warned Friday that their supplies of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) — a peanut-based paste critical for treating severe child malnutrition — will run out by August unless new shipments arrive. They currently only have enough for 3,000 children.
From April to mid-July, more than 20,500 children in Gaza were diagnosed with acute malnutrition. Of these, over 3,200 had progressed to severe acute malnutrition — a life-threatening condition that can result in death or long-term developmental harm.
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) issued its own urgent alert, stating that one in four children in Gaza is now malnourished. Rates have tripled in just the past two weeks, they said.
British paediatric surgeon Dr Nick Manyard, who spent several weeks volunteering at Nasser Hospital, told Sky News that babies were being fed sugar water due to the absence of formula. He also made the disturbing claim that Israeli snipers had targeted civilians, including teenage boys, at food distribution points.
“Twelve days ago, four young teenage boys came in, all of whom had been shot in the testicles,” he said. “It seemed to us like this was almost a game of target practice.”
With images of starving children circulating globally, political leaders are coming under intense pressure to act. Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Friday the scenes from Gaza were “indefensible,” adding: “The sight of children reaching for aid and losing their lives has caused consternation across the world. I repeat my call today for a ceasefire.”
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France intends to officially recognise Palestinian statehood in September, a move aimed at increasing diplomatic pressure for a resolution. UK ministers have hinted they may follow suit, although Prime Minister Keir Starmer has expressed caution, urging a “negotiated peace.”
Peter Kyle, UK’s Science and Technology Minister, echoed that sentiment: “We want Palestinian statehood… but right now, today, we've got to focus on easing the extreme, unwarranted suffering in Gaza.”
Even if hostilities were to cease immediately, the path forward remains deeply uncertain. More than 60% of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed or severely damaged. With hospitals overwhelmed and food production facilities decimated, rebuilding could take years — even decades.
For now, children like Muhammad continue to suffer. At Al-Shifa Hospital, doctors say they are treating hundreds of malnourished children daily under “disaster zone” conditions.
In one case, 13-year-old Atif Aid Abu Khater was admitted weighing just 25 kilograms – the average weight of a healthy 7-year-old. In another, two-year-old Yezen Abu Ful was photographed lying weakly in his mother’s lap at the Al-Shati Refugee Camp, his body ravaged by hunger and lack of basic nutrients.
Ceasefire talks are tentatively set to resume next week, according to Egyptian officials, but with trust at an all-time low and conditions on the ground worsening by the hour, the future remains grim. For Muhammad and countless other children, every hour of delay comes at a cost that may be irreversible.