GAZA CITY: In some tents and shelters in northern Gaza, emaciated children are held in their parents’ arms. Their tiny arms and legs dangle limp. Their shoulder blades and ribs stick out from skeletal bodies, slowly consuming themselves for lack of food. Starvation always stalks the most vulnerable first. Kids with preexisting conditions, like cerebral palsy, waste away quickly because the high-calorie foods they need have run out, along with nutritional supplements.

The "window to prevent mass death is rapidly closing, and for many it's already too late," one senior humanitarian official told NBC News.

Desperate parents in Gaza struggle to feed their children as famine unfolds due to an Israeli blockade.