Hunger in Gaza: Women and children face death in search of food

“I used to easily receive aid distributed by the UN,” Abir Safi, a displaced person from the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, told UN News. “Now, we get nothing. I risk my life by going to the Zikim crossing and returning with an empty bag. All I want is to return to my children with some food.”

Ms. Safi said she never imagined that providing for her children would become a deadly adventure. After losing her husband in the war, she found herself alone, facing the responsibility of supporting her family amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

She was among thousands of citizens who gathered along Rashid Street in northern Gaza, which connects the Zikim crossing to northern Gaza, hoping to receive humanitarian aid.

‘Bullets over my head’

Our correspondent witnessed the arrival of thousands of Palestinians returning from a journey in search of food supplies. Thousands of emaciated bodies – men, women, and children – were caught in a scene that has become a daily occurrence. Everyone is running in search of the few aid trucks that reach northern Gaza.

The United Nations has the capacity and resources necessary to distribute aid in a safe, dignified manner to all those in need in the Gaza Strip. The organization continues to call for the lifting of restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on the entry and distribution of aid into Gaza.

The danger lies not only in the crowding and chaos, but also in the death that lurks around everyone. Fayza al-Turmisi, a displaced person from Shuja’iyya, described the horrific scene along Rashid Street in northern Gaza.

“They fire shells and bullets at us here. We are forced to lie on the ground. I hide among more than 200 men, and bullets fly over my head. If you raise your head, you get hit. If you stay on the ground, bullets fall around you.”

Between mourning and hunger

Mohammed Mudeiris, aged seven, said he lost his father in an airstrike just the day before. He doesn’t have the luxury of grieving for his father as he is now the sole breadwinner for his siblings.

Walking through the dense crowds, he extends his small hand, begging for a handful of flour to take back to his siblings.

“I am the eldest of my siblings,” he said. “My father was killed in an airstrike yesterday. I am trying to ask someone to give me a plate of flour or a meal from the aid that arrived today.”

‘I risk my life to bring food to my children’

The race for food is not limited to men. Women are forced to take this risk, driven by the responsibilities of motherhood and the needs of their children.

“I throw myself into danger to bring food for my children,” said Asma Masoud, who was displaced from northern Gaza.

“We never get our fair share of aid,” she said. “My husband is paralysed, and there are widows and women like me who cannot provide food for their children.”

Highlighting that some young people take the aid and sell it at exorbitant prices that she cannot afford to buy, Ms. Masoud called on the world to ensure “a fair distribution mechanism and to allow UNRWA [the UN agency for Palestine refugees] and international organizations to do so”.

Aid should be distributed via text messages so that every person in need receives their share, as was the case before, she said.

“But now, only a few people are profiting and selling the aid,” she stated. “We cannot tolerate that. It is an injustice.”

‘I don’t know how I’m going to feed my children’

Ms. Safi agreed with Ms. Masoud, complaining that “the beneficiaries now are largely thieves.”

“I’ve lost a lot of weight, and all my health is gone,” Ms. Safi said. “I don’t know how I'm going to feed my children. I want to receive aid with dignity. Aid used to come through the United Nations, and I could easily go and receive it, but now I don't receive anything."

This chaotic system leaves behind widows, women, the elderly and many other complex humanitarian cases, such as Maqboula Adas, who supports her injured husband and her son who has a broken leg.

“My husband is injured and cannot move,” she explained. “My eldest son has a broken leg, and I also have three daughters. No one supports us except God. Every day I go to try to get some flour. If it weren't for that, they would have died of hunger.”

Carts carry corpses

At the height of this tragedy, macabre scenes emerge. Instead of carrying bags of flour, a horse-drawn cart transports the bodies of at least seven Palestinians who were killed while trying to get aid.

While some young men carried sacks of flour on their backs, ambulances bring the wounded and dead from the northern regions. The achievement of getting food aid comes at a heavy price.

One young man was injured in the head and face while trying to collect aid.

“I came to collect aid, but today wasn’t my day,” he said. “I will come again despite my injury, and I hope God will provide for me next time.”

Risk of famine

Gaza is facing a severe risk of famine, with food consumption and nutrition indicators at their worst levels since the beginning of the current conflict, according to a warning issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). 

At least 147 deaths due to hunger and malnutrition have been reported, including 88 children. More than 28,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition have been recorded among children, according to reports from the World Health Organization and the World Food Programme.

Despite promises to facilitate the flow of aid, restrictions on the entry of food and fuel, along with ongoing attacks near the crossings, have prevented supplies from reaching those in need. In addition, the chaotic distribution of aid within Gaza has further complicated the situation and placed civilians at greater risk.

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) has documented the deaths of hundreds of people attempting to access aid amid ongoing gunfire and shelling near relief truck routes and military distribution points.

‘If I get killed, who will take care of my children?’

Amidst this chaos, widow Enaam Siam, a mother of six, recounts her struggle for food.

“I am a widow and a mother of six orphaned children, one of whom is injured,” she said. “Every day, I go out amidst death to bring them food. I see the dead and wounded.”

She asked why aid is no longer delivered to warehouses and distributed via text message.

“If I am killed, who will take care of my children? There are thousands of women in a similar situation. We want safety, peace and a fair system that ensures aid reaches those in need.”