GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Fourteen-month-old Barra took his first steps in a prison cell no more than 5 meters (16 feet) long. He stumbled. He got up, walked a few more steps and fell again. Barra is spending the first months of his life with his mother in Ansar prison, where she is serving a seven-year sentence for unlawful sexual intercourse, that is, prostitution.

Barra’s mother told Al-Monitor, “I have served nine months of my sentence, and I hope that my appeal will succeed, and I will serve only one-third of the sentence.” She said that the prison does not provide proper food or clothing for her son and that she has to buy everything from the prison’s grocery store. “My son is only eating bread dipped in tea because there is no baby food,” she stated.

The Ansar prison facility lies west of Gaza City. The prisoners who spoke to Al-Monitor did so on condition of anonymity.

There are four children at Ansar, and all that they see of this world is the cell in which they are confined, a long corridor and the roof where the prisoners take their breaks, which does not seem suitable for children; there is nothing there but cold water taps. In this prison environment, there is not a single toy or a tree.