A little girl from Gaza is recovering from malnutrition in a hospital in Italy after being evacuated from the war-torn territory. The child suffers from a rare genetic disease. Photos show the child’s condition a month ago compared to new images after her health improved following her transfer to Italy.
According to the world’s leading authority on hunger crises, more than half a million people in Gaza – about **a quarter of the population – are experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger** due to the blockade and ongoing military operations. **Little Shamm Qudeih**, after her arrival from Gaza, celebrated her second birthday and gained weight thanks to a new diet including special cream. The progress gives relief to doctors treating her for severe malnutrition, which was worsened by a genetic metabolic disease.
Italy: Shocking images of Gaza toddler recovering from malnutrition
A few weeks ago, according to Associated Press, **the little girl was severely malnourished and in poor condition**, clinging to her mother in a hospital in southern Gaza after months of being unable to get food and treatment due to the Israeli blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages. She was subsequently evacuated and transferred to Italy for medical care, along with six other children from Gaza.
In one photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Mariam Dagga, little Shamm appears clinging to her mother’s arms, with tangled hair and protruding ribs, just days before leaving Gaza on August 13. It was one of Dagga’s last photographs – she was killed along with 21 other people in an Israeli strike on August 25 at the same hospital in southern Gaza.
Malnourished Gazan toddler Shamm Qudeih has celebrated her second birthday while recovering in an Italian hospital.
She has gained 1.5kg in the weeks since pictures of her emaciated condition in Gaza shocked the world before her evacuation https://t.co/KMahww4lsK
— The National (@TheNationalNews) September 6, 2025
Mariam Dagga, freelance journalist in Gaza for the Associated Press, took this photo of a little malnourished girl at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis this month.
Dagga was killed today in an Israeli air strike on that hospital. pic.twitter.com/UHm3VLKALP
— Newscoop (@newscoop) August 25, 2025
The last photograph in Gaza
At Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Dagga photographed Shamm for the last time on August 9. During the visit, Shamm was crying in her bed. **Her arms, legs and ribs were skeletal, while her belly was swollen**.
Shamm’s mother Islam had attended school with Dagga, who visited the hospital and remembered her fondly. *”She always came to the hospital to see us, me and Shamm,”* Islam said. *”She stayed until the last step to say goodbye before we left for Italy.”*
The child’s recovery
When Shamm arrived in Italy, she weighed about 4 kilograms and was “in serious and critical clinical condition,” said Dr. Daniele de Brasi, a specialist in pediatric genetic diseases treating her at the Santobono Pausilipon Children’s Hospital in Naples. She now weighs 5.5 kilograms, which is still only half the average weight for a child her age.
According to Dr. de Brasi, “a large part” of her condition is due to a genetic metabolic disease called glycogen storage disease, which prevents the absorption of nutrients, particularly carbohydrates, and can cause muscle weakness and developmental delays. This condition is mainly treated through a high-carbohydrate diet. *”**So far we are very satisfied with her progress,**”* Dr. de Brasi said.
As of this week, according to AP, Shamm was sitting in a children’s hospital bed in Naples, her blonde hair tied in a braid. She wore a t-shirt with the inscription “cute.” Her large eyes sparkled as her older sister and mother called to her from across the room, and **she smiled**.
A mother’s struggle
Shamm suffered from malnutrition since birth, a few weeks before the October 7, 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 others hostage. The family was forced to move more than twelve times, and Shamm’s mother Islam struggled to secure appropriate medical care, visiting many hospitals and clinics. Doctors suspected the rare disease but couldn’t diagnose or treat it properly, sometimes offering only antibiotics.
As the little girl’s mother said: *”The situation worsened due to lack of food, treatment and capabilities. We moved about 15 times, from tent to tent. We walked long distances and during that time, it was hot and the sun beat down on us.”* For a period, doctors provided special milk, but Shamm wouldn’t accept it, having lost the habit of drinking milk after supply shortages in Gaza.
The UN warned last month that hunger and **malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest levels since the war began**. Nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found with acute malnutrition in July, of which over 2,500 had severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organization notes that the numbers are likely underestimated.
Ongoing treatment
According to the Italian Foreign Ministry, **Shamm is among 181 children receiving treatment in Italy**. About a third of them arrived after March, when Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas and imposed a 2.5-month blockade on all imports, including food and medicine.
