Displaced Palestinian children gather to receive food at a government school in the Gaza Strip (French)

At the dawn of the morning, when the Palestinian Abu Qusay Abu Nasser (44 years old) woke up, his eyes turned to his children as they were screaming from extreme hunger due to the lack of food in their home in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian feels great sorrow in his heart as he sees his children starving, without finding a quick solution to feed them in light of the ongoing Israeli aggression and siege on the region, and the continuation of the war that increases the suffering of the people.

This situation prompted Abu Nasser to head towards a market with scarce goods in the Jabalia camp, north of the Gaza Strip, in search of food for his family.

Abu Nasser walks carefully along the paths of the market, looking right and left in search of any sign that could help him feed his hungry children.

The Palestinian passes between vendors who display their vegetables, some of which appear to be moldy.

The father, whose face shows signs of weakness and fatigue, seeks to search for dried corn and barley, which are considered food for animals in the Gaza Strip.

Abu Nasser looks forward, with an expression of expected hope, to preparing bread from these ingredients, after flour stocks ran out in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian has no alternative but to resort to these methods to survive under the Israeli siege on the northern Gaza Strip, and the continuation of the war, which complicates the humanitarian situation more and more.

On the side of the market, suddenly, one of the vendors spread out a bag of potatoes, which showed signs of mold.

Abu Nasser and passers-by rushed to the market, looking to buy what they could use to meet their necessary needs, despite the state of mold.

This is evident in light of the tragic conditions experienced by the people of the northern Gaza Strip, due to the ongoing war since the seventh of last October.

Abu Nassar said, "Since the early morning, I went out looking for food, dry corn, and barley to feed my hungry children. Since yesterday, I have only eaten one date, and the children are screaming from extreme hunger. I do not know what to do."

He continued, "I went to Jabalia market, but I could not find dried corn intended for animal food to make bread for my children."

Obtaining food in Gaza has become an arduous task that requires hours of searching and waiting (French)

He pointed out that since the week-long truce in Gaza, nothing has arrived in the north of the Strip, and what arrives only barely meets the needs of Gaza City, so how can it be enough for the north?

On December 1, a temporary truce between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel ended, concluded with Qatari-Egyptian-American mediation, and lasted for 7 days, during which prisoners were exchanged and limited humanitarian aid was brought into the Strip, which is inhabited by about 2.2 million Palestinians.

Abu Nasser explained that he ate hibiscus, which is a type of wild herb with a dark green color, but the influx of citizens to it in agricultural lands made it unavailable.

He stated that he traveled long distances to search for wheat and flour but did not find them at all.

Abu Nasser asked: “Is the Israeli occupation punishing us by not providing food and drink? Is it because we did not all move to the southern Gaza Strip?”

A child's happiness after receiving a meal inside a displacement camp (French)

Eye of mercy

For her part, Rawiya Rizq, who was displaced to a school in the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, said, “There is no food and we are living in famine.”

Rizq called on the Arabs and Muslims to look with mercy at the people of the Gaza Strip, who are starving as a result of the Israeli siege.

She added, "We are eating animal food and it is starting to run out, and diseases are spreading widely, as children suffer from smallpox and hepatitis, and adults suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure."

She continued, "If food is available, our situation will be better."

She explained that animal food is rare and at high prices, as the price of 3 kilograms of it ranges between 60 and 80 shekels (one dollar equals 3.65 shekels).

According to the results of recent malnutrition examinations conducted by partner organizations in the Nutrition Cluster (affiliated with the United Nations), there is a significant increase in the rate of general acute malnutrition in Gaza among children between the ages of 6 and 59 months.

General acute malnutrition reached 16.2%, which exceeds the critical threshold set by the World Health Organization at 15%.

On November 17, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that the population in the northern Gaza Strip is “on the brink of famine and has no place to go” in light of the ongoing war.

For 143 days, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which as of Sunday left 29,692 martyrs and 69,737 injured, most of them children and women, in addition to thousands missing under the rubble and an “unprecedented” humanitarian disaster.

For the first time since its establishment in 1948, Israel is currently being tried before the International Court of Justice, the highest judicial body in the United Nations, on charges of committing “genocide” crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Source: Al Jazeera + Anatolia