AILSA CHANG, HOST:
You've probably seen the pictures of an emaciated 18-month-old Mohammad Al-Motawaq with his mother, Hidayat (ph) Al-Motawaq. They are among many images shared by major media organizations, including NPR, that have come to define the extreme hunger gripping Gaza after months of Israeli restrictions on food aid. NPR producer Anas Baba spoke to the Al-Motawaq family more than a week ago.
MOHAMMAD AL-MOTAWAQ: (Crying).
HIDAYA AL-MOTAWAQ: (Speaking Arabic).
CHANG: But since that interview, the images of Mohammad have been widely circulated within Israel for a very different reason. Many believe that the images show the international media are falsifying reports of mass starvation in Gaza. NPR's Emily Feng takes it from here.
EMILY FENG, BYLINE: Almost immediately after the images of 18-month-old Mohammad ricocheted around the world, an Israeli blogger falsely claimed the boy had cerebral palsy, which they claim caused him to appear to be starving when he was not. In fact, he had been going up to four days without food at a time.
SUZAN MOHAMMED MAROUF: (Speaking Arabic).
FENG: That's Suzan Mohammed Marouf, a nutrition specialist at the Patient's Friends Benevolent Society Hospital in Gaza. She's been Mohammad's primary doctor, treating him for malnutrition since January.
MAROUF: (Speaking Arabic).
FENG: She says the hospital gave him vitamins and milk. Mohammad's health improved. His mother, Hidaya Al-Motawaq, shows NPR producer Anas Baba photos from that time. Mohammad is rotund and smiling - almost a different child from the one he is now.
MOHAMMAD: (Crying).
FENG: His doctors say Mohammad does not have cerebral palsy. He has muscular dystrophy. It's a genetic condition that in Mohammad causes lack of coordination. He has a slightly larger than average head as a result as well, and he is extra vulnerable to malnutrition. But with good food and physical therapy, his mother says Mohammad learned to stand this year.
AL-MOTAWAQ: (Speaking Arabic).
FENG: He used to laugh, play and say, mom and dad, she says. Then, in mid-March, Israel ended a temporary ceasefire. It tightened restrictions on what could get into Gaza. Food dried up. The United Nations says over 20,000 children have had to be treated for acute malnutrition since April, and many others, like Mohammad, have been unable to get treatment or even get a hospital bed.
AL-MOTAWAQ: (Speaking Arabic).
FENG: And his mother says Mohammad lost nearly nine pounds since March. He lost his newly acquired ability to stand and to speak.
SAEED SALAH: Feeding is essential for life.
FENG: This is Dr. Saeed Salah, a nutritionist who directs the hospital where Mohammad has been treated.
SALAH: If we have give him good nutrient and other criteria for care for - of the baby, of the child, he will be dealing with a good life than what we are suffering now.
FENG: With care and food, Mohammad can develop just as any other child would, he says. Even with Israel's new daily pauses in military operations, nearly every major humanitarian organization in Gaza says Israel is allowing only a dribble of aid to be delivered, though Israel's military says Hamas is responsible for the suffering in Gaza. Gaza health authorities have recorded dozens of children's deaths due to malnutrition in the past month - figures some Israeli outlets dispute, saying they are manipulated by Hamas. Here's Dr. Marouf, Mohammad's primary doctor.
MAROUF: (Speaking Arabic).
FENG: Dr. Marouf at Patient's Friends Hospital emphasizes Mohammad is not the only child suffering chronic hunger. Her hospital's overwhelmed with pediatric malnutrition cases from kids with and without special needs. Dr. Salah, the hospital director, says don't take him at his word. If people think the mass hunger is Hamas propaganda...
SALAH: Let the other side, which is the media - international media - to come here.
FENG: Israel has banned foreign press access, except for limited trips accompanied by their own forces. Dr. Salah says, let the international press into Gaza. Then they can see for themselves what is happening there.
Emily Feng, NPR News, with Anas Baba in Gaza City. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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