{"id":248670,"date":"2023-11-20T12:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=248670"},"modified":"2023-11-18T05:30:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-18T05:30:22","slug":"palestinians-fear-slow-death-as-hunger-and-thirst-spread-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/11\/palestinians-fear-slow-death-as-hunger-and-thirst-spread-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Palestinians Fear \u2018Slow Death\u2019 as Hunger and Thirst Spread in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Young Palestinians wait for a hot meal prepared by volunteers, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, 10 Nov 2023.\u00a0 (Abed Rahim Khatib\/Flash90)<\/p><\/div>\n

Israel\u2019s assault has created a severe food and water crisis, with bakeries, shops, and local authorities unable to meet the population’s minimum needs.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

14 Nov 2023<\/em> – With Israel\u2019s large-scale military offensive on the Gaza Strip entering its second month, Palestinians across the besieged territory are suffering from an alarming food and water crisis. Many residents fear that Israel is actively using starvation as a weapon of war and collective punishment following the October 7<\/a> attack.<\/p>\n

Despite declarations from Israeli and foreign officials that some humanitarian aid would be allowed into Gaza, the few convoys that have entered from Egypt through the Rafah Crossing in the south have barely helped to alleviate the Strip\u2019s hunger crisis. The Karem Abu Salem\/Kerem Shalom Crossing, Israel\u2019s main commercial checkpoint, has remained completely shut.<\/p>\n

Before the outbreak of the war, according to an official at the Palestinian Economy Ministry, an estimated 500 trucks loaded with supplies entered Gaza on a daily basis. In the past month, with prolonged closures amid the heightened siege and assault, that number has reduced to only about 20 trucks a day, the official said. And together with a lack of fuel and the threat of dangerous journeys due to the bombings, it has become almost impossible to transport basic goods across the territory.<\/p>\n

The resulting food shortage has caused massive lines to form outside surviving bakeries, such as the Ajour bakery in Al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, in the northern part of the Strip. \u201cI have been waiting here since 3 a.m.,\u201d Marwan Al-Shawa, 56, told me. \u201cMy sons and I came to get enough bread for our family. The daily ration for each person isn\u2019t enough for a breakfast for a small family. Now even a small house is full of displaced families, requiring double the amount of food allowed. I sometimes wait five hours for my turn, and sometimes they\u2019re out of bread by the time I get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians<\/a><\/p>\n
Palestinians line up to get a loaf of bread at the bakery amid the Israeli war on Gaza and closure of the crossings, in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, October 29, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib\/Flash90)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

An analysis of UN data conducted by the international aid organization Oxfam revealed<\/a> that just 2 percent of the food supply that had been scheduled to be delivered to Gaza since the start of the war, when Israel further tightened its 16-year blockade, has actually arrived in the Strip. As such, the siege is effectively starving 2.2 million people.<\/p>\n

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor similarly reported<\/a> that obtaining bread in Gaza has become an existential challenge, especially since the Strip\u2019s sole flour mill cannot grind enough wheat because of the lack of electricity. Since October 7, at least 11 Palestinian bakeries have been bombed and destroyed, and those that remain in operation are facing shortages of fuel and flour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel ashamed to walk in the streets with bread, water, or food,\u201d said Hamza Salha, 22, from Gaza City. \u201cYesterday, I was walking with a few loaves of bread; God knows I got them after a long struggle. An elderly woman saw me and begged, \u2018Please give me bread for my children. I swear I haven\u2019t eaten anything for two days.\u2019 If this situation continues for just one more week, we will have to eat the leaves of trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Supermarkets<\/a><\/p>\n
Supermarkets are empty of goods due to the Israeli war on Gaza, which led to the closure of commercial crossings and the lack of entry of basic foodstuffs, in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, November 5, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib\/Flash90)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018The fear of airstrikes\u00a0has become secondary\u2019<\/h3>\n

Gaza\u2019s residents are facing similar challenges in trying to get water, both for drinking and other basic needs. \u201cThere is no water that can be pumped into pipes, or drawn from wells, or distributed to households,\u201d Saeb Laqan, an official from the Khan Younis municipality, told the media. \u201cWe are facing a humanitarian catastrophe if the world does not intervene.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basel, a Palestinian resident and father, echoed that growing danger. \u201cTo get a liter of drinking water is becoming impossible,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery day, we are suffering and struggling to survive. I am struggling for my children.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife in Gaza has become divided into queues for bread and water,\u201d Basel continued. \u201cEverything you need is in queues. Even to get non-drinkable water, you have to wait and call the water distributor a few days in advance, and sometimes they do not answer you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Families who have been displaced<\/a> by the war are particularly suffering from the disasters. \u201cWe have children who cannot bear these conditions,\u201d said a mother who has been displaced to Al-Bahrain school in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, who asked to remain anonymous. \u201cFor more than ten days, I have not been able to provide milk for my child, and most of the humanitarian aid only goes to the people in the south. I don\u2019t know what to worry about most \u2014 my home, my children, or myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians<\/a><\/p>\n
Palestinians line up to get a loaf of bread at the bakery amid the Israeli war on Gaza and closure of the crossings, in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, October 29, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib\/Flash90)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Younes Al-Halak, a Gaza City resident who was displaced to the southern city of Rafah, said that the situation in both the north<\/a> and the south<\/a> were unmanageable. \u201cAll the bakeries in Gaza City are currently closed, with no availability of flour or vegetables, and the water is salty,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople rely on whatever rice remains. With the displacement of residents, the southern region is now grappling with overcrowding and an inability to meet people\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

The situation in the south, Al-Halak continued, \u201cis terrifying. There are no open supermarkets or stores or any food items. There are some vegetables available, but they are scarce and will run out in the coming days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Israel\u2019s military campaign is destroying every aspect of daily life in Gaza \u2014 including its infrastructure, economy, agriculture, and supply chains. Swamped by the unfathomable crisis, Palestinians are struggling to get by, along with enduring constant airstrikes<\/a>, a collapsing health care system<\/a>, and no safe zones to shelter in. At least 11,000 Palestinians<\/a> in Gaza, including 4,600 children, have already been reported killed so far in the past month, and thousands more have been injured. And without access to basic necessities, the lives of countless more children and families are under threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I fear now is watching my children die of hunger and thirst,\u201d said a Palestinian resident of the Sheja\u2019iya neighborhood of Gaza City. \u201cThe fear of Israeli airstrikes has become secondary for us. I wish that my children and I could be hit by an airstrike instead of the slow death from the lack of food. At least if we were struck by a plane, I wouldn\u2019t mourn my children, and I would die with them. But now, in the face of food shortages, I fear the day when I will find my children dying from starvation, and I can\u2019t save them.\u201d<\/p>\n

____________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Mahmoud Mushtaha is a Gaza-based freelance journalist and human rights activist.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original – 972mag.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

14 Nov 2023 – Israel\u2019s assault has created a severe food and water crisis, with bakeries, shops, and local authorities unable to meet the population’s minimum needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":248671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[928,532,1854,101,100,2898,87,865,1029,88,2414,2415,2416,3120,715,767,771,475,427,2897,880,99,124,70,92,965,1025,886],"class_list":["post-248670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide","tag-bds-boycott-divestment-sanctions","tag-colonialism","tag-crimes-against-humanity","tag-cultural-violence","tag-direct-violence","tag-ecocide","tag-gaza","tag-genocide","tag-hamas","tag-israel","tag-israeli-apartheid","tag-israeli-army","tag-israeli-occupation","tag-jewish-settlers","tag-massacre","tag-middle-east","tag-nakba","tag-netanyahu","tag-palestine","tag-sociocide","tag-state-terrorism","tag-structural-violence","tag-united-nations","tag-usa","tag-violent-conflict","tag-war-crimes","tag-west-bank","tag-zionism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248672,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248670\/revisions\/248672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}