More than four months have passed, filled with massacres, forced displacement and violence against two million people living in the 365 square kilometer coastal enclave.
The report comes from Haneen Harara, published by El Diario, February 22, 2024. The translation is by Cepat.
The population across the Gaza Strip suffers from direct violence from Israeli attacks from the air and sea, but also indirect violence from hunger and disease, which can be even more deadly than bombings due to lack of water and food. , poor hygiene conditions and overcrowding in shelters. The 154 buildings of the Agency of United Nations for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), are full and house around 1.7 million displaced men and women in and around them. This leads to the spread of disease.
In this violence that affects the residents in so many ways Gaza are facing an unprecedented, catastrophic humanitarian situation, with restrictions on the importation of aid putting the entire population, particularly in the north, at risk of famine.
Accordingly United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian AffairsSince the beginning of 2024, the Israeli authorities have denied access to 51% of planned missions UNRWA and its humanitarian partners to provide assistance and conduct assessments in regions north of Wadi Gaza. According to the Food Safety GroupFood insecurity in the north has reached an extremely critical state given the severe supply restrictions.
Gaza reporter's testimony: “Nessuno rises to enter a single Giorni pasture” https://t.co/1wqmIIjXkM via @repubblica
IHU (@_ihu) February 21, 2024
“I feed my children dry pieces of bread. We didn't get any humanitarian aid, except flour from UNRWA. Our situation is humiliating,” he explains. Khadeeja Mataramid a sea of campaign tents. Khadeeja33 years old, comes from a neighborhood in the north Gaza and continues to move in with her young children Rafah. Due to the shortage of humanitarian aid, those still living in the north have to grind dry food to survive. Now that too is running out.
“When I go to the market to buy food, I return with a little. Vegetable prices are very expensive. Before October 7, we bought 10 types of vegetables that cost a maximum of 100 ILS ($30), now nothing is done with them,” he laments Raeed Badah50yearold Palestinian, expelled from the neighborhood Sheikh Redwan, south of the Strip. “We cannot support these prices. Because there is not enough humanitarian aid, access to water and food is only possible through purchase. “Everything costs twice as much!” he explains.
The situation is dramatic for the entire population and especially for those suffering from health problems. Aseel Dahdouh, an 18yearold Palestinian woman, suffers from celiac disease, which forces her to follow a diet that is unfortunately no longer available. She suffers daily from the lack of glutenfree foods. You have limited options available to you and you cannot refuse them as they allow you to survive. “I've had celiac disease since I was two years old, it's what I grew up with. Got help from Ard El Insan Associationa health clinic that provided me with all the food I needed.”
Pregnant women and newborns are among the groups most affected by the siege.
In the north of the Gaza Strip, one in six children under the age of 2 is acutely malnourished.
An immediate humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to expand aid deliveries to those who need it most.https://t.co/rjX0NoKwSK pic.twitter.com/z4eVdMlfb8
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) February 21, 2024
A United Nations Organization It is estimated that there are currently around 50,000 pregnant women living there Gaza and that there are more than 180 births every day Destruction of the health system.
It is assumed that these mothers and fathers should pay special attention to food, medicine, hygiene products and drinking water, but the shortage of all these products makes the situation much more difficult for newborns too. The physical and psychological problems that mothers face lead to difficulties in breastfeeding, which cannot be managed with the limited amount of milk available in the market.
next to the hungerfrom that miseryfrom fear and from ViolenceThe population lives with terrible images that they can no longer get rid of: “I cannot forget two brothers who were shot by an Israeli special sniper when one of them tried to reach the humanitarian aid distribution point in the south of the Gaza Strip.” “Both were murdered while trying to get food,” he says. Dina Elheloua displaced woman in her 30s as she looks at her newborn twins.
Every day the population waits for humanitarian aid to ensure their survival, but Israel uses civilian hunger in the occupied territories as a weapon of war Gaza Strip. A weapon that kills slowly and imposes on you the additional suffering of watching your children starve with nothing to eat to sustain them.
Israel attacks a humanitarian convoy in Gaza after the route was approved by the army, UN documents show https://t.co/GKeI2G3xyX.
Jornal O Globo (@JornalOGlobo) February 21, 2024
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Hunger in Gaza: “I feed my children dry pieces of bread, our situation is humiliating” Instituto Humanitas Unisinos IHU