Gaza Strip Food Crisis: Israel Accused of Using Starvation as a Weapon

Food shortages in the besieged northern Gaza Strip have affected animal feed, which some residents use along with flour to make bread. Which exacerbated the food crisis there.

Since the Israeli army took control of cities in the northern Gaza Strip, it has imposed a tight siege on half a million Palestinians who remained there and did not move south.

The army, stationed in the “Netzarim” area, which separates the northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, only allows small convoys of aid to enter, which are received by Palestinians who head out in the thousands towards the trucks upon their arrival, and before they are able to unload their cargo in warehouses and distribution points.

Bread with blood

According to Palestinian Muhammad Saad, a number of citizens were killed over the past few days while searching for flour on aid trucks entering Gaza City.

Saad added to Sky News Arabia that among the tens of thousands who go to receive the trucks, only a few hundred return with the wish of obtaining flour, pointing out that the situation in Gaza City and its north is catastrophic in every sense of the word, with regard to the scarcity of food and clean water. Especially with the crisis of fodder, which “we used to use with flour to make bread.”

Following the Israeli army’s targeting of more than one aid convoy that was on its way to the northern Gaza Strip, and the state of chaos prevailing in Gaza City, the United Nations World Food Program announced, on Tuesday, the suspension of the delivery of food aid to northern Gaza, and said that the decision is in effect “until circumstances permit.” The Palestinian sector with safe distribution.”

Oxfam: Israel is using the weapon of starvation against civilians in Gaza

Unprecedented levels

Another manifestation of the food crisis is pointed out by Palestinian Hanaa Musleh, from the town of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, telling Sky News Arabia, “The vegetables that merchants used to throw in the garbage are now finding customers who need them.”

Also, “some of the vegetables available in the markets have clear signs of spoilage, either because they are very old and were not stored well, or because they were in places that were bombed, but people are forced to eat them.”

One of the sources of obtaining food, as the Palestinian citizen explains, is that “some young men in the neighborhood are searching under the rubble of houses that are being bombed, hoping to find flour or rice to distribute to the neighborhood residents.”

Regarding water, “residents are trying in primitive ways to sterilize the water by heating it until it becomes drinkable.”

The young man Muhannad Ahmed from the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip says that his family is searching among the wooded and agricultural areas for some plants that can be eaten, such as hibiscus, which has recently become a main dish on the family table.

Although Beit Lahia is an agricultural town, and crops extend from its far east to west, the long period of war and Israeli incursions into the city prevented farmers from being able to take care of their crops. Which led to some of them being damaged, as Ahmed explains to Sky News Arabia.

Continue to sue Israel

On the other hand, the International Court of Justice continued its sessions on Wednesday regarding the practices of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, with the aim of ultimately issuing a non-binding advisory opinion.

Last Monday, the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, began hearings on pleadings on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, where it heard the pleadings of Palestine and lawyers from several countries. On Wednesday, Egypt presented its pleading, which focused on accusing Israel of preventing the arrival of aid. To the Palestinians.

Israel, which did not participate in the hearings, said in written comments that the court’s intervention could harm a negotiated settlement.

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2024-02-21 20:50:00