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

Gaza

- Every morning, Shadi Al-Sabbagh heads towards the open lands east of Jabalia Camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, to search for the hibiscus plant and collect quantities of it, in the hope that it will satisfy his family, who suffers from hunger.

This action is not without great danger, given the Israeli occupation forces’ targeting of citizens who approach the buffer zone it creates along the eastern border of the Gaza Strip.

But Al-Sabbagh believes that feeding his family, and protecting them from starvation, is worth the risk.

After returning to his tent set up in the courtyard of a school affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees (UNRWA) in Jabalia camp, his wife begins to light a fire in the wood to cook the hibiscus by boiling it with water.

This period of the year, hibiscus, which grows in fields and open lands, is an available and free option for the Al-Sabbagh family due to their lack of money to buy food, as well as the lack of food supplies in the markets.

"Khobiza" is a popular food that Palestinians in Gaza love and buy it from the markets, while some prefer to collect it themselves from the ground.

Hunger kills Shadi Al-Sabagh's family, like the rest of the residents of the northern Gaza Strip (Al-Jazeera)

Displacement and hunger

Shadi Al-Sabbagh's family's suffering as a result of the war began early, after the occupation army destroyed his house located in the American School area, in the town of Beit Lahia, northwest of the Gaza Strip.

After that, he was displaced several times, fleeing with his wife and three children from the fire of the occupation, from one place to another, until he settled in a shelter center in an UNRWA school.

As soon as the family began to feel stable, hunger began to plague them.

Al-Sabbagh told Al-Jazeera Net, "We are unable to protect our children, and we are unable to feed them."

He explains that he feels great pain when his children ask him for food, but he is unable to provide it for them.

He says that his tent is completely devoid of food, and that his family currently only eats water and “hibiscus.”

Al-Sabbagh added, "The situation has been difficult since I left my home, but these days have become more difficult because I have run out of money and the complete necessities of life have been cut off due to the occupation preventing the entry of aid into the northern Gaza Strip."

About two months ago, the Al-Sabbagh family was getting some “rice” from a charity, which enabled them to eat some food.

As for bread, for several months, the family has not tasted it due to the fact that flour has run out in the markets and its prices have skyrocketed on the “black market.”

As for “meat,” Al-Sabbagh says that he and his family have not tasted it since the beginning of the war, due to its high prices.

Regarding the items he bought during his last visit to the market, he said, "I bought tea and some carrots, but I could not buy sugar because of its high price."

Today, Al-Sabbagh and his family are forced to suffice with water and one meal a day, which is usually hibiscus.

He added, "My wife and I can be patient, but how can these children be patient with hunger?"

Hunger affected the Sabbagh family’s weight, as it decreased significantly during the war, especially recently.

Al-Sabbagh estimates that he has lost at least 20 kilograms of weight, as he says that before the war he weighed 80 kilograms, and now he does not exceed 60.

He points out that his eldest child, “Muhammad,” was injured by occupation bullets when he was trying to get some flour from the remains of their destroyed house, and he almost lost his life.

His wife, Shadia, touched on other aspects of his suffering from hunger, such as the fact that her children were suffering from diseases, emaciation, and extreme weakness, due to the lack of food and clean water.

She added to Al Jazeera, "My children are malnourished, and I do not rule out that they suffer from anemia."

Famine kills

The situation of the Al-Sabbagh family is no different from the situation of families in the northern Gaza Strip, where famine has ravaged the region as a result of the Israeli occupation army preventing the entry of food to the population, since the beginning of the brutal war that began on the seventh of last October.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, Director General of the Government Information Office in the Gaza Strip, says that 8 deaths were recorded in the northern area of ​​the Strip, as a result of famine and malnutrition.

Al-Thawabta added to Al-Jazeera Net, "The famine is deepening very significantly in the north, where about 700,000 people live, amid a severe siege by the occupation, which has prevented the complete entry of aid since the beginning of the war."

He added, "We warn that the deepening of the famine will cause us to lose many children and the elderly among our people every hour and every day."

He pointed out that there are about 60,000 pregnant women in the northern Gaza Strip, who do not receive health care or the necessary food, which may lead to miscarriage or birth defects.

Shadi Al-Sabbagh’s family has no choice but to collect hibiscus plants from the fields in order to survive (Al-Jazeera)

Poisoning cases

For his part, Raed Al-Nims, the official spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, confirms what Al-Thawabta said about the death of many Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip due to hunger.

Al-Nims told Al-Jazeera Net, "We have learned that a number of children, the elderly, and those with chronic diseases have died due to lack of access to food. We have also learned that there are children suffering from anemia and other diseases related to hunger and malnutrition."

He added, "We learned that there are cases of poisoning due to eating spoiled food, due to the lack of clean food."

Al-Nims reported that very little food supplies reach the northern Gaza Strip, adding, “The occupation army does not allow enough trucks to enter that area, and there is also a decline in the number of trucks arriving from abroad through the Rafah crossing to the entire Strip, and this is due to the inspections carried out.” It takes a long time, and Israeli settlers attack aid convoys, which prevents their entry.”

Regarding the new mechanism that the occupation government spoke about, which provides for direct aid to the northern Gaza Strip, Al-Nims said, “Until this moment, we have not received any decision indicating a breakthrough in the number of trucks. We only hear from the media.”

On Tuesday, Israeli Channel 12 said that the War Council decided to bring aid directly into Gaza, without explanation.

Al-Nims appealed to the international community and international institutions to pressure Israel to respect international conventions that criminalize the policy of starvation, collective punishment, and cutting off food supplies.

Source: Al Jazeera