SANA'A March 17. 2024 (Saba) - In light of hypocritical world silence and the continuation of the brutal Zionist-American aggression against Gaza Strip, the residents of the Strip are suffering during the holy month of Ramadan from the scarcity of food supplies and the unavailability of many goods in the markets, due to the enemy authorities’ deliberate intention to keep the crossings closed since the first day of the war.
As the barbaric aggression entered its 162nd day, Gaza Strip residents welcomed the sixth day of the holy month of Ramadan to the impact of the “genocidal” war that has been continuing since last October, with the worsening hunger that reached record levels in various parts of the Strip, especially in the northern regions, amid the comprehensive destruction that... It affected infrastructure and residential neighborhoods.
According to the policies of the Zionist enemy government, the process of entering goods, including those entering in the form of aid, is still simple compared to the period before the war, during which residents were also complaining about the siege imposed on Gaza for about 17 years.
Gaza residents confirm that the materials currently provided to them in the form of aid, which are flour, canned food, and some legumes, are not sufficient for their daily needs, and that preparing them requires other materials, which are also non-existent.
Media reports reported that many residents living in the central and southern areas of Gaza Strip are forced to drink tea without sugar and prepare it as usual on stoves, due to the lack of cooking gas, which is allowed in metered quantities.
This was confirmed by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, in an article published a few days ago, where he said that despite the small amount of humanitarian aid allowed to enter, “the population of Gaza Strip still lacks the fuel necessary for cooking, and most bakeries lack enough food.” Fuel or flour to make bread for people, parents try to feed their children with the little animal food they have left, , farm animals are starving and cannot become a source of food.”
The government media office in Gaza warned that “famine is deepening” in the Strip and threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and women, due to the continuation of the war. It pointed out that this famine is deepening further in the governorates of Gaza and North Gaza, which it stressed “portends a humanitarian catastrophe.” A global crisis that could kill more than 700,000 Palestinian citizens still residing in these two governorates.”
Media sources recently revealed that the Zionist enemy government rejected 22 requests submitted by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) last January, in order to secure the way to deliver humanitarian aid to those areas.
The United Nations website quoted United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric as saying: Consistent and reliable food supplies to serve all residents of Gaza continue to face obstacles, due to repeated border closures, restrictions on the import of goods into Gaza, and damage to vital infrastructure, as well as the security situation.
Dujarric added: “Food insecurity in Gaza has reached a very critical state, given the significant restrictions imposed on the delivery of humanitarian aid.”
A UN report stated that people in Gaza told World Food Program staff that they often go entire days without eating, and that many adults suffer from hunger so that children can eat.
In turn, World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier said in a statement to the Turkish Anadolu Agency on Thursday: The situation is catastrophic, and hunger is killing people in Gaza Strip, which is exposed to a devastating Zionist war, and that children are most at risk of contracting diseases, pointing out that the majority the population faces hunger , malnutrition and is therefore easily vulnerable to all diseases.
He added: Patients in hospitals and operating rooms are begging for water and food, and that there are people in shelter centers who do not know how to spend their day due to the absence of food.
The UN official stressed that children are actually the most vulnerable in such cases, and when they are starving and suffering from malnutrition, they easily contract all diseases, especially diarrhea.
The World Food Program also warned on Saturday that “the threat of hunger does not take a break during Ramadan, especially in the Middle East and North Africa region,” saying: “Donations are still necessary to ensure that families continue to receive World Food Program assistance to secure their next meal.” .
In its publication, the program shed light on the situation in the Gaza Strip, saying: “Gathering around food is an essential habit in Ramadan, but in Gaza many people struggle to find something to eat.” He added: “Our teams are working to donate food to community kitchens to prepare” 500,000 breakfast meals for fasting people every day.”
In turn, the media advisor to UNRWA in Gaza Strip, Adnan Abu Hasna, said in a press statement today: The spread of malnutrition constitutes a dangerous phenomenon, and airdrops of aid do not meet what is required and do not reach all those in need.
He added: The aid dropped by air into the Gaza Strip is insufficient and does not reach all those in need, stressing that the conditions of the residents of Gaza Strip are so miserable that they run out of animal feed for use as food.
He continued, saying: It is necessary to introduce flour immediately and provide safe drinking water... pointing out that "malnutrition has become a dangerous phenomenon and has begun to spread in the south of Gaza Strip."
He stressed, "We are facing a major disaster represented by the food shortage in the Strip."
UNRWA announced today that one in every three children under two years of age in northern Gaza suffers from malnutrition, adding: Malnutrition is spreading rapidly among children and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza, stressing that “famine looming on the horizon.”
For his part, the Secretary-General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement today: The humanitarian situation in Gaza is beyond catastrophic, adding: “Civilians are facing an unprecedented level of humiliation, misery and suffering, and the health situation is on the verge of collapse with hospitals facing desperate conditions.”
He pointed out that "the escalating food crisis is worsening in an extremely dangerous situation," explaining that with the start of Ramadan, countless people have nothing to break their fast with.
It should be noted that Ramadan has transformed for the residents of Gaza from a time of worship, charity, and fasting from dawn until sunset, into a daily struggle for survival, amid the ruins of buildings and houses under Zionist bombing.
European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell denounced the use of hunger as a “weapon of war” in Gaza, in a speech before the UN Security Council last week, saying: “This humanitarian crisis is not a natural disaster, it is not a flood or an earthquake, but rather man-made.” He called for humanitarian aid to be brought into the devastated Strip.
Borrell added: “When we discuss alternative ways to deliver aid, by sea or air, it must be no secret that we are doing so because the normal land route is closed, and it has been closed in an artificial manner,” stressing that “starving the population is used as a weapon of war.”
It is worth mentioning that the residents of the northern Gaza Strip have resorted to searching for any food that can be eaten, and have reached the point of grinding livestock and poultry fodder to eat it, and searching in agricultural lands for the leaves that the land grows to satisfy hunger.. In the south and center of the Gaza Strip, residents face extreme difficulty in providing food supplies. As a result of the great shortage of food supplies and the high prices of available food items, in light of very poor living and economic conditions.
J.A
resource : SABA
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