Children wait for their turn to receive food in Rafah, Gaza Strip (Reuters)

The stories of hunger in the Gaza Strip are not a “drama” woven by writers who are searching in the world of imagination for what is most important in the world of reality. Rather, all the evidence of the place speaks, in sound and image, including the mute buildings, to bear witness to this genocide being practiced against the Palestinians, for which it was not known. The world is like this in times of modernity and the death of the living conscience of humanity.

The Israeli aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza, which inflicted all kinds of torture on them: killing, displacement and starvation, did not succeed in breaking their steadfastness and their belief in the justice of their cause and the legitimacy of their resistance to the occupation.

The Palestinians set the most wonderful examples of resistance through patience, steadfastness, and solidarity among themselves, as they swallowed the bitterness of letting down those closest to them before those far away.

The Israeli occupation tried to slaughter Gaza with the knife of hunger, hoping that its weapons would succeed in killing their lives after bombing their bodies, to the point that the United Nations classified the first 100 days of the war on Gaza as the bloodiest in the 21st century.

But the pictures released by the sector revealed the failure of those efforts. Among the rubble of the demolished buildings, the Palestinian person still stands tall, unyielding and not bowing his head to an usurper, even if it costs him his life.

Bright fact

Even international organizations could not hide the tragedy that the people of Gaza were becoming.

The United Nations has expressed its fears of the spread of famine, thirst and disease, due to the Israeli restrictions imposed on the basic services sector and humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The United Nations World Food Program estimated that more than a quarter of Gaza's population has exhausted their food supplies, while the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that 90% of Gaza Strip children suffer from malnutrition.

As for the head of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory, Rami Abdo, he confirmed to Al Jazeera Net that Israel’s starvation of civilians in the Gaza Strip will leave long-term effects that cannot be reversed, in light of international reports and experts confirming that the number of victims of starvation and the diseases associated with it may exceed the number of those who died. They were killed by bombs and missiles.

The same source pointed to international reports and studies that shed light on the Gaza Strip, where 53% of the population suffers from an extreme emergency of acute malnutrition, while 26% of them, or about half a million people, suffer from famine, and the risk of deaths resulting from Hunger, malnutrition or related diseases.

In the footsteps of "Hansel and Gretel"

The fairy tale created by the "Brothers Grimm" (German Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm) talks about a brother and sister whose parents try to get rid of them in the middle of the forest. They find out the way back with pieces of bread that Hansel scatters on his way so that he and his sister know the way back home.

As for the Gaza Strip, the matter takes a more tragic form, in a way beyond imagination, when thousands are forced to flee, not only to escape the urgent death brought about by bombs, raids, and the bullets of the occupation snipers, but also to escape the slow death led by the lack of food and potable water.

However, the people of Gaza do not base their path of displacement on scattered pieces of news that have become valued at the price of gold. Rather, they are led by a bright hope that the siege, no matter how long it lasts, will not last, and that the occupation is on the verge of disappearing, so they travel miles in search of a better tomorrow for themselves and their children.

Here is a Palestinian, bitten by hunger - as the old Arab proverb says - forced - forced - to leave his home in northern Gaza, searching for food to feed his young daughter, screaming loudly, “I cannot describe the hunger there.”

“I cannot describe the hunger there.” A displaced person from northern #Gaza talks about the food crisis that the people of the Strip have reached #Gaza_War pic.twitter.com/yqGanNJqNW

- Al Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) February 25, 2024

Palestinian journalist Muhammad Shaheen published a video clip of a little girl crying, “We miss white bread.” She had lost her father in the war, and her life and the life of her family had been turned upside down by the aggression.

“We miss white bread.” Poignant words from a Palestinian girl that summarize the reality of thousands of children who face difficult conditions in the Gaza Strip pic.twitter.com/omCYBg0AoE

- Aljazeera.net • Al Jazeera Net (@AJArabicnet) February 21, 2024

Even Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail Gul wrote on the X platform: “We usually say good morning.. but we say to you, morning of hunger.. What do you answer?!”

Plates of patience and gratitude

The Israeli occupation war did not rob the Palestinians of their patience and steadfastness in situations where others might be weak.

As a form of adaptation to the bitter reality that can be sweetened with “alqam juice,” according to the opinion of the poet Ahmed Matar, the people of Gaza adapt to their reality as required by their patience, thankful and thankful, waiting for relief to come after hardship, and they know full well, from their faith and wisdom, that hardship will not come. He stands up to Yusreen, who was promised to the patient servant.

Journalist Islam Badr, in his post on the “X” platform - accompanied by a video - tells us about his share of food on one of the days of war and destruction that Israel inflicts on the Palestinians... water and carrots, and yet he says that what he has is a blessing that no one else can find, before he prays Good luck to Gaza and its people.

This is my share of food today. In northern Gaza, my mother cooks carrots with water.. and I am in a blessing that others envy me for.. Oh God, grant me relief soon


. “This is my share of food today, my mom is cooking carrots with water. I am blessed, and others envy for it. Oh Allah, bring relief soon."

pic.twitter.com/mh7pe4AjCw

—Islam Bader |

Islam Badr (@islambader1988) February 24, 2024

In another scene, which requires us to pause in turn, the professor and linguist Hamza Mustafa Abu Toha tells us about one of his diaries after the birth of his son, “Ali.” He said, “I tried hard before (Ali) was born to provide a box of newborn milk, but I did not find any, so I said that perhaps the hospital would provide it for him on the day of his birth.” A carton of milk. After his birth, his mother wanted to breastfeed him, but no milk came out due to the mother’s malnutrition. I went to the nursery department and did not find anything. I went everywhere in the hospital but did not find milk. After 7 hours, one of the women gave me an injection that contained a little milk. We in the north are besieged."

Before Ali was born, I tried hard to provide a container of newborn milk, but I did not find anything. So I said that perhaps the hospital on the day of birth would provide him with a container of milk. After his birth, his mother wanted to breastfeed him, but no milk came out due to the mother’s malnutrition. I went to the nursery department and did not find anything. I went everywhere in the hospital and did not find milk yet... pic.twitter.com/fr0tWoGxeg

- Hamza Mustafa Abu Toha (@HamzaAbuToha) February 20, 2024

After the birth of his son, Abu Toha wrote again, “And as for the grace of your Lord, it happened. This is God’s provision after 5 days of searching in the Northern Governorate for some meat for my wife who gave birth to a child. Today is the week of my son (Ali). I made this dish for my wife as a birth gift. Perhaps you will You see that they are few, but these pieces of meat are worth $70, and these grains of rice are $25. Don’t you think their value deserves to be a gift!”

And as for the grace of your Lord, tell me, this is God’s provision after five days of searching in the Northern Governorate for some meat for my wife who gave birth to a baby. Today is the week of my son (Ali). I made this dish for my wife as a birth gift. You may see it as a small amount, but these pieces of meat are worth $70. These grains of rice are worth $25. Don’t you think their value is worth it? pic.twitter.com/Wo71PXiub8

- Hamza Mustafa Abu Toha (@HamzaAbuToha) February 22, 2024

It is no secret that Gaza suffers from killing and destruction, and that it suffers from starvation and siege, but the secret that some may try to conceal despite its appearance is that Gaza also suffers from the silence of those close to it who tried to ignore its suffering, and left it to face its fate with an occupation that showered it with incendiary bombs in addition to the bombs of hatred and genocide. .

However, despite the fact that hunger is eating away at the stomachs of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and that people cannot find anything to satisfy their needs, to the point that they are forced to eat animal feed, this did not weaken their resolve, but rather highlighted the finest values ​​of tolerance, solidarity and cooperation in them, embodying the values ​​of humanity in His highest state, clinging to a great shield of faith, faith in God who is just and gives everyone his right, and faith that patience is always associated with victory.

Source: Al Jazeera + social networking sites