Nahed Abu Yusuf, a resident of the besieged Gaza city, tirelessly leaves no stone unturned all day, every day, to secure any food for his starving children, but all in vain!
Abu Yusuf, a father of seven, intentionally delays his return home till it’s dark, despite the risky security situation, to ensure that his children are already asleep, sparing himself the heartbreak of looking into their hopeful eyes and telling them that he couldn't find any food at all!
Abu Yusuf tells “Al-Mujtama,” “With the prolonged war and the intensification of the siege on Gaza and its northern areas, the most challenging task has become finding any insufficient meal after the essential resources, especially flour and rice, have run out.”
He added, “Every morning, I go out early to search for any trace of flour or rice, but in vain. In the end, I turn to one of the wastelands to harvest the Malva pusilla, a winter plant that naturally emerges on its own and thrives on rainwater.”
Hunger is seeping through our flesh
As for Mohammed Saber, a father of five, he says, “Hunger is consuming our bodies in Gaza and its northern areas, and we have turned into skeletons: no food, no drink, no medicine, and everything has become extremely expensive, if you ever found it.”
Saber added to “Al-Mujtama,” “I risked my life and headed to where the soaking blood humanitarian aid was, just to get a bag of flour, but I returned after a large number of martyrs were killed before my eyes when we were targeted by an Israeli tank.”
Final Plea!
Ismail Althwabta, the director general of the government media office in Gaza, confirmed that the residents of northern Gaza are experiencing a real famine as Israeli forces prevent the entry of humanitarian aid. Althwabta stated to “Al-Mujtama,” “The blockade on northern Gaza tightens after the depletion of essential resources, especially flour, grains of all kinds, rice, sugar, and milk.”
He added, “Some children have resorted to eating lemons with salt to alleviate their hunger because it was the only thing they could find.”
Althwabta pointed out that the people of Gaza and its northern areas have grinded all kinds of grains, even those for animal feed, but even these grains have run out.”
He called on the international community to urgently intervene to save the people of Gaza from a real famine that is ending their lives.
He said, “This is a final plea to save the people of Gaza from death by hunger or thirst.”
Adnan Abu Hasna, the UNRWA media advisor, mentioned that the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza has significantly decreased due to the blocking of the Karm Abu Salem crossing by “Israeli protesters,” who do not allow trucks to enter.
He added that there is a major problem after Israel targeted the police officers guarding the convoys. Now, the convoys entering through the crossings are vulnerable to looting and control by hungry Palestinians because the police are afraid to guard these trucks.
Abu Hasna emphasized that the humanitarian system is on the verge of collapse unless dramatic measures or real actions are taken on the ground to save the humanitarian situation in Gaza, especially in the face of Israel's threat to displace the residents of Rafah.
He further said, “We have submitted 35 requests to enter convoys into Gaza City and the northern areas of the Strip from January 1 to February 5; they only allowed convoys to enter ten times.”
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