REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, GAZA -- Children displaced to southern Gaza desperately want chickens, but mothers can only feed their families a can of peas donated by a man who felt pity when he saw him cry.
Losing shelter as a result of Israel's military offensive against Hamas, like most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, Tahany Nasr is in a refugee tent in Rafah. He only thought about one thing: how to get enough food and water to survive another day.
She said her children lost weight and began to experience dizziness because they were not eating enough.
'I've been begging to feed my children and get nothing. I went to the Department of Social Affairs, they said go to the mosque. I went to the mosque, they said go to the Ministry of Social Affairs,” he said on Wednesday (20/12/2023).
He was referring to Gaza's welfare ministry which usually regulates the distribution of staple foodstuffs such as flour to people in difficulty.
Hunger is the most pressing of the many problems facing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza. The aid trucks were only able to carry a fraction of what was needed, and the distribution was uneven because of the chaos of war.
Some trucks were stopped and looted of people desperate for food. While much of the devastated area was inaccessible due to road access being an active battleground.
In Rafah, which is a crossing point into Egypt where aid trucks pass and is an area where the Israeli army has called on civilians to evacuate, food and water shortages are so severe that people lose weight and fall ill.
“We are starting to see people coming in with dry skinny conditions,” said Samia Abu Salah, a primary service doctor in Rafah.
He said that weight loss and anaemia were common and people became so frail and dehydrated that they were more susceptible to chest infections and skin conditions. Babies and children are particularly at risk, and their growth will be affected.
'My kids just told me today they want to eat chicken. Where can I find chickens for them? Where? Do I know? May God save us,” Nasr said, sobbing.
“We haven't had food for two days. How do I fool my children? With some pasta? Some lentil stew? If I can find it!” he said,
He added he sometimes resorted to making meals with just onions. Nasr goes inside the tent to pick up a can of peas which he thinks was given by a kind-hearted man to him, although he bought them himself.
“Here it is. Only this can we have for a whole day,” he said, lifting the can, his voice rising with anger.
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