Reem, 13, daughter of Abu Walid, an example of the exploding number of malnourished children

Abu Walid was walking back home with his 13-year-old daughter Reem after visiting his brother's house when she began to complain of fatigue. Step after step, her voice grew weaker until she suddenly collapsed on the road, unconscious for hours.

Terrified, the father of six carried her to the nearest hospital. Doctors ran tests, and the results came back clear: Reem had no illness. Instead, Abu Walid was told what he had feared but never imagined would touch his daughter so soon: She was suffering from malnutrition.

Reem and her brother Karim now struggle with constant fatigue and weakness, their growth stunted by a lack of proper food.

Their story is told in a recent article in Haaretz, a liberal Israeli newspaper. “Doctors say cases of malnutrition have surged in recent months, with more and more children arriving dehydrated, underweight and too weak to carry out daily activities, like fetching water, bringing food from charity kitchens and NGOs, or even playing with other kids,” the article says.

The article says such cases are now common, and hospitals, with not enough doctors and medicine, can’t cope. "Every day, we are forced to choose who receives treatment and who must wait," one pharmacist who volunteers in Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah told Haaretz. "This is not medicine. This is survival."

More at Haaretz