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The family’s plight gained global attention weeks ago when a viral video showed Abdullah, visibly malnourished, screaming in hunger while his mother wept helplessly. The footage highlighted the dire famine imposed on Gaza’s 2.1 million residents amid Israel’s ongoing siege. The Abu Zerka family was evacuated to Turkiye through a humanitarian program facilitated by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, but the weeks-long process proved too late for Abdullah, whose body succumbed to severe complications from months of malnutrition, including organ dysfunction and immune system collapse.
Hamed, 34, described the desperation in Gaza, where finding basic food like a tomato was impossible, and clean drinking water was scarce amid constant bombings. “Abdullah and Habiba needed urgent treatment. Every day, they became smaller, weaker,” he said, his voice heavy with sorrow. Despite round-the-clock efforts by medical staff in Adana, including specialized nutrition therapy and treatment for severe dehydration, Abdullah’s depleted body could not recover. “Even with all our equipment, all our medicine, we couldn’t undo what months of starvation had done to his little body,” said Nurse Ayse Demir.
Habiba, at six months old, continues her fight in the same hospital. Her frail condition mirrors her brother’s, with visible signs of prolonged hunger, though doctors are cautiously optimistic due to her younger age. The United Nations reports that over 90 percent of Gaza’s population faces severe food insecurity, with children especially vulnerable to malnutrition-related complications.
Abdullah was laid to rest in Adana’s Gulbahcesi cemetery in a quiet ceremony led by Imam Mehmet Tasci, attended by Turkish locals offering support to the grieving family. “We buried our son in a foreign land,” Hamed said, lamenting that Abdullah would never grow up playing in Gaza’s streets. The family’s return to Gaza remains uncertain, dependent on Habiba’s recovery and the volatile situation in their homeland.
Turkiye has been a key provider of medical evacuations for Gaza patients, treating hundreds in its hospitals. However, the World Health Organization notes that only a small fraction of those needing evacuation have been able to leave. Local Turkish communities have rallied around the Abu Zerka family, offering meals and emotional support during their hospital stay.
As Hamed and Basma maintain a vigil by Habiba’s bedside, they mourn the loss of their son while holding onto hope for their daughter’s survival, far from the home where their children “wasted away” amidst hunger and war.
