Istanbul, Turkiye – The fluorescent lights of Adana Metropolis Coaching and Analysis Hospital forged harsh shadows throughout Hamed Abu Zerka’s gaunt face as he stands beside his six-month-old daughter’s hospital mattress.
The 34-year-old’s weathered fingers tremble as he adjusts Habiba’s blanket.
Abdullah, his four-and-a-half-year-old son, died Thursday morning on this identical room, his small physique lastly succumbing to the malnutrition that had been slowly consuming him for months as Israel laid siege to Gaza.
The household grew to become emblems of the Israel-imposed famine on Gaza’s 2.1 million individuals when a video of Abdullah went viral weeks in the past, the clearly malnourished youngster screaming in starvation, asking for meals, as his mom wept helplessly.
Their story captured worldwide consideration and prompted the medical evacuation that introduced them to Turkiye, which appeared like salvation – however got here too late for Abdullah.
Basma Abu Zerka, 30, sits within the nook holding a small bundle of her son’s garments. She speaks little, crying silently.
“We misplaced our youngster. We’re residing via large ache,” Hamed says, his voice uncooked.
Hamed hollowly describes the ache of powerlessly watching his youngsters waste away.
His voice cracks as he remembers the ultimate weeks in Gaza, when discovering a single tomato grew to become an not possible dream.
“There isn’t even clear consuming water there. Bombs are falling; there’s starvation and loss of life in all places.”
“Abdullah and Habiba wanted pressing therapy,” Hamed continues, his eyes mounted on his daughter.
“On daily basis, they grew to become smaller, weaker.”
The evacuation to Turkiye got here via a International Ministry humanitarian programme, with Turkish officers working diplomatic channels to safe the household’s passage.
However the course of took weeks – time that Abdullah’s failing physique couldn’t afford.
“Turkish officers contacted us and had been with us till we arrived right here,” Hamed explains.
“We thank … everybody who contributed to serving to us. However we arrived carrying youngsters who had been already ghosts of themselves.”
The flight to Adana was the primary time both youngster had left Gaza. Abdullah, barely aware from malnutrition, seemingly had no consciousness of the journey. Habiba, youthful and barely extra resilient, cried weakly throughout takeoff.
Medical battle in opposition to time
On the Adana hospital, medical employees recognised the severity of the kids’s circumstances.
Abdullah arrived with extreme problems stemming from extended malnutrition: organ dysfunction, immune system collapse, and developmental delays that spoke to months of insufficient vitamin.
Dr Mehmet Yilmaz, the hospital’s chief of paediatric intensive care, has treated numerous children evacuated from conflict zones, but the Abu Zerka siblings’ conditions shocked even experienced medical staff.
“These children often arrive with damage that has been building for months,” he explains.
For 10 days, medical teams worked around the clock to save Abdullah, administering specialised nutrition therapy, treating severe dehydration, and monitoring his vital organs as they struggled to function.
But the boy’s body, depleted by months of hunger, couldn’t respond to treatment.
“He was so small,” recalls Nurse Ayse Demir, who cared for Abdullah during his final days. “Even with all our equipment, all our medicine, we couldn’t undo what months of starvation had done to his little body.”
The United Nations estimates that over 90 percent of Gaza’s population faces severe food insecurity, with children particularly vulnerable to malnutrition-related complications.
Fighting for Habiba
Six-month-old Habiba fights the same battle her brother fought and lost.
Her tiny frame tells the same story of prolonged hunger – arms like twigs, ribs visible beneath translucent skin, eyes that seem too large for her face.
Medical staff are cautiously optimistic about her recovery prospects, noting that her younger age may have protected her from some of the more severe complications.
Her parents maintain a vigil that blends hope with mourning, sleeping in chairs beside her bed, eating hospital meals while remembering family dinners back home in Gaza.
The couple doesn’t know what will come next. Their return to Gaza is contingent on Habiba’s recovery and the situation in their homeland. Meanwhile, they must process their loss far away from extended family, cultural rituals, and the familiarity that typically provides comfort during mourning.
Abdullah was cremated in the Gulbahcesi neighbourhood cemetery in Adana, a quiet ceremony attended by locals who had never met the child but understood the universal language of parental loss.
Imam Mehmet Tasci led prayers in Arabic while Turkish neighbours stood respectfully beside the grieving family.
“We buried our son in a foreign land,” Hamed says, his voice breaking completely. “He should have grown up running through Gaza’s streets, playing with neighbourhood children, learning prayers from his grandmother. Instead, his grave is thousands of kilometres from everyone who should have watched him grow.”
Local mosque leaders and Turkish families in the neighbourhood have organised ongoing support for the Palestinian family, providing meals and emotional assistance during their extended hospital stay.
The cost of survival
“People ask when we will go home,” Hamed explains. “But how do you return to a place where you watched your children waste away? How do you go back to the rooms where your son cried for food you couldn’t provide?”
Turkiye has been one of the most active countries in providing medical evacuations for Gaza patients, with hundreds of Palestinians receiving treatment in Turkish hospitals since the conflict began.
However, the World Health Organization reports that only a fraction of those needing medical evacuation from Gaza have been able to leave.
Abdullah Abu Zerka lived for four and a half years, most of them in wartime. Today, his parents grieve his loss while fighting to save their remaining child.
The piece was published in collaboration with Egab.
