Hunger haunts Gaza: Children cry out as food scarcity grips enclave

With the break of dawn, Palestinian Abu Qusay Abu Nasser, 44, woke to the screams of his children, who were suffering from intense hunger due to food shortages in their home in northern Gaza. Full of profound sorrow as he sees his children suffer from starvation, Abu Nasser was unable to find a quick solution to feed them amid the ongoing Israeli blockade and war that exacerbate the suffering of the people. He passes by vendors displaying their vegetables -- some of which appear to be moldy -- scanning left and right, hoping to find anything that could help him feed his hungry children. Abu Nasser, with a hopeful expression, looks forward to preparing bread from these ingredients after wheat supplies have run out in the northern part of the territory. 'Since early morning, I've been out searching for food, corn, and barley to feed my hungry children,' Abu Nasser told Anadolu. He went on: 'I went to the Jabalia market, but I could not find the dried corn meant for animal fodder to make bread.' On Dec. 1, 2023, a one-week temporary humanitarian pause between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S., ended. Abu Nasser explained that he resorted to consuming Khubbayza (malva) a type of wild green herb, but the influx of people to agricultural lands made it unavailable. Rawiya Rizq, a Palestinian woman who sought refuge in one of the schools in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, said: 'There is no food, and we are living in famine.' Rizq explained that animal fodder is scarce and expensive, with the price of three kilograms ranging from 60 to 80 shekels ($219-$292). Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing more than 29,700 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed. The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN. Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza. Hostilities have continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe.