PALESTINIANS in Gaza are suffering from a huge lack of water, food and medical supplies amid the ongoing Israeli blockade.
Israel cut off the entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza on March 2 and then resumed its bombardment and ground offensives two weeks later, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.
Humanitarian organisations including the World Food Programme and UNRWA, which supplies food and services to more than 2 million Palestinians across Gaza, have said that millions are now at the brink of starvation.
Prices have reportedly skyrocketed over 500%, malnutrition is surging, and fuel is nearly inaccessible.
The UN said it identified 3700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80% from February.
It’s a fear that Suhad (below), who is a mother to six children, worries about every night.
She fell pregnant with her sixth child during Israel's war on Gaza, and has been forced to navigate the challenges of pregnancy on top of battling to provide food and water for her existing family during bombardments, displacement and aid sieges.
"My daughter is now a month old, and she suffers from severe colds,” said Suha, who is being supported by Oxfam.
“She got sick and has chest problems and a persistent cough. I spend the whole night thinking, how will I educate my children? How will I provide them with food and water?"
Areej, who works for humanitarian organisation Mercy Corps in Gaza, said that without aid coming in, families are “left with nothing”.
He asked: “No bread, no flour, no milk, no oil. Even if something does make it to the markets, the prices are beyond belief—how can a family afford food when there's no income, no work, and no help?”
Areej added: “Water is another crisis. So many neighborhoods have lost access to clean water. The pipes are damaged, and the wells are dry or dirty. Families are forced to drink unsafe water. Children are getting sick. Mothers are terrified. And there’s nowhere to go, no one to turn to.”
Saleem, who also works for the organisation, said the food is not close to enough.
“We've had to ration our meals drastically. One day, we eat plain rice—three times a day,” she said.
“The next day, only canned food. The day after, maybe pasta. Families are rationing bread to the extreme: each person gets one piece a day—they choose whether to eat it all at once or split it across three meals.”
She added: “In short, this is the harshest phase of the war so far. And the hunger is only getting worse—more severe and more deadly with each passing day.”
