It cost a lot, she said, but Asmaa Fayez managed to buy some zucchini at the Gaza market. She cooked them with rice and brought them to her 4-year-old son, who had been in the hospital for the past week. The soup was his only meal of the day and he asked for more.

"It's all done, dear," Fayez replied softly. She said that despite this, the canned beans and tuna she brought on other days also improved.

The hospital’s patients are one of the most vulnerable Palestinians in Gaza, with Israel’s lockdown on food and other supplies entering the area in the third month.

Since hospitals cannot provide food, families must bring everything that their loved ones can find.

"Most, if not all, injured patients have lost weight, especially in the past two months," Khaled Alserr, a general surgeon at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan City, told the Associated Press. He said there is a lack of nutritional supplements for the intensive care unit.

"Our hands are bound when making the best choice for patients. There are limited options," he said.

Aid groups say malnutrition is growing. Thousands of children have suffered from acute malnutrition in the past month, but adults have not received proper nutrition either.

Food sources have been dry since the start of Israel's lockdown on March 2. The aid team has stopped food distribution. The bakery is closed. The United Nations said that charity kitchen distribution of pasta or lentils is still the last lifeline for most of the population, but they are closing quickly due to lack of supplies.

There is almost nothing in the market except canned goods and a small amount of vegetables, and prices are also rising. The UN said the situation in local vegetable production fell as Israeli forces damaged 80% of Gaza's farmland, while most of the rest was inaccessible within the newly declared military area.

Fayez's son Ali al-Dbary was taken to Nasser Hospital by Nasser Hospital because of his intestine blockage, suffering from severe cramps and unable to use the bathroom. Fayez believes this is because he has hardly eaten canned goods. She splurged on zucchini, which is now priced at about $10 per kilogram (2.2 pounds). Less than a dollar before the war.

The doctor said the hospital did not have a functional scanner to diagnose her son and determine if he needed surgery.

Israel said it imposed a blockade and resumed its military campaign in March, demanding that Hamas release its remaining hostages and disarm.

Hamas ignited the war with an October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians and hijacked 251, most of whom have been released in a ceasefire agreement or other deal. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, the Israeli attack killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.

Israeli officials asserted that enough food entered Gaza during the two-month ceasefire earlier this year. Rights groups objected to this and called the lockdown a “hunger strategy” and potential war crimes.

Israel now plans to use private contractors to allocate supplies to control aid distribution in Gaza. The United Nations and aid groups rejected the idea, saying it could limit who is eligible to provide and receive aid and could force a large number of Palestinians to move - which would violate international law.

At Israel's proposal, those who are cared for by the hospital and their families will face further challenges. Moving to aid may be impossible.

Another patient at Nasser Hospital is 19-year-old Asmaa Faraj, whose chest ammunition is bounced, an air strike near a tent in the charity kitchen near the camp for displaced persons outside Khan Younis.

The only food she had when the Associated Press visited was a small bag of dates, a date cookie and some water bottles. Her sister brought her some kimchi.

“People used to use fruit as gifts when they visited patients in hospitals,” said sister Salwa Faraj. “Today, we have a bottle of water.”

She said her sister needed protein, fruits and vegetables, but no protein.

Mohammed al-Bursh managed to find some tuna and beans to bring his 30-year-old son Sobhi, who was injured in an air strike three months ago. Sobhi's left foot was amputated and he had two broken vertebrae on his neck.

Al-Bursh gently gave his son's beans, support on his neck as he lay on the hospital bed.

“Everything is expensive,” Sobhi al-Bursh said, talking about the unchanging pain. He said he limited what he had eaten to help save his father's money.

He believes his body needs flesh to heal. "It's been three months and nothing has been cured," he said.