Between shells and hunger – Gaza women face death in search of food

Abeer Safi, who is displaced from the Al -Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City, was never imagining that providing a livelihood for her children would become a deadly adventure. After she lost her husband in the war, she found herself alone facing the responsibility of supporting her family amid deteriorating human circumstances.

It was among the thousands of citizens who gathered along Al -Rashid Street in northern Gaza, which connects the Zikim and northern Gaza crossing, hoping to obtain humanitarian aid.

The United Nations News lens was present, as the scene of the arrival of thousands of Palestinians returning from a journey to search for food supplies. Thousands of meager bodies – men, women and children – accumulate in a scene that is repeated daily. Getting food is no longer a regular journey, but rather a race that is filled with death from every side. Everyone runs in search of a few relief trucks that reach northern Gaza.

The United Nations has the ability and capabilities to distribute aid safely and generous to all those in need in the sector. The organization continues to demand the lifting of the restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities to enter and distribute aid in Gaza.

“Lead above my head”

The danger is not only in crowding and chaos, but also in death that lurks everyone. Fayza Al -Tirmi, who is displaced by Shuja’ia, describes the horrific scene along Al -Rashid Street in northern Gaza: “They shoot us and lead here. We are forced to lie on the ground.

Between mourning and hunger in the streets of Gaza

Mohamed Mudar, a seven -year -old child, said he lost his father in an air strike, just one day ago. Muhammad does not have the luxury of sadness over his father, as he has become the only family for his brothers. Muhammad walks between the dense crowds, extending his small hand, begging to people to get a handful of flour to his siblings.

The little child tells us his story by saying: “I am my older brothers. My father was killed in an air strike yesterday. I try to ask anyone to give me a flour plate or a meal of aid that arrived today.”

“I risked myself to bring food to my children.”

The race for food is not exclusive to men. Women are forced to take this danger, pushing them responsible for motherhood and the need of their children. Asma Masoud, who was displaced from northern Gaza, was forced to leave her paralyzed husband to storm this hell: “We never get our fair share of aid. My husband is paralyzed, and there are widows and women like me who can not secure food for their children.”

Asmaa adds that some young people take aid and sell them at exorbitant prices that cannot bear the cost of their purchase and add: “Throw myself in danger to bring food to my children.”

She appealed to the world guaranteeing “a fair distribution mechanism, allowing UNRWA and international organizations to do so.” And she continued by saying: “Aid must be distributed through text messages until every needy gets his share, as was the case in the past. But now some people only benefit and sell aid – we cannot bear it. It is injustice.”

“No one assures us except God”

Abeer Safi agrees with the names of Masoud in this opinion, as she complains that “the beneficiaries are now greatly from thieves.” She says: “I lost my weight enough, I went to all my well -being. I don’t know how I will feed my children. I want to receive aid with dignity. The aid came to us through the United Nations, and I was going to receive it with ease, but now I don’t get anything.”

This chaotic system leaves behind widows, women, the elderly, and many complex humanitarian cases, such as acceptable lentils who support her injured husband and her son who suffers from a break in his leg: “My husband is injured and he cannot move. My older son is broken, and I have three daughters as well. No one will support us except God. Every day I go to try to get some flour. Otherwise, they would have died of hunger.”

At the height of this tragedy, tragic scenes of a horse carriage appear, instead of carrying flour bags, carrying more than seven bodies of Palestinians who were killed while trying to get aid.

And ambulances transporting the wounded and dead from the northern regions, while some young people carry accurate bags on their backs, but this achievement came at a high price. One of the youths was injured in his head and face while trying to get aid. He tells us his experience by saying: “I came to get aid, but today it was not my day. I will return to the coming despite my injury and I hope that God will give me the next time.”

While another young man carrying an accurate bag on his back describes the scene as “very dangerous”, stressing the need to distribute aid through well -known centers and through text messages as it was happening.

“If you are killed, then who will take care of my children?”

In the midst of this overwhelming chaos, the widow tells us Inaam Siyam, the mother of six children, her suffering with the struggle of food: “I am a widow and a mother of six orphans, one of them is injured. Each day I am in the midst of death to bring them food. I see the dead and wounded. Why is the aid not delivered to warehouses and distributed through text messages? If you are killed, who will take care of my children? There are thousands of women in my position. We want safety and peace and a fair system that guarantees the arrival of aid to the needy. “

The risk of starvation

Gaza faces the danger of severe famine, as the indicators of food and nutrition consumption have reached its worst rates since the beginning of the current conflict, according to a warning issued by the integrated classification of the stages of food security. At least 147 deaths were reported due to hunger and food shortage, including 88 children. More than 28,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition were recorded among children, according to the reports of the World Health Organization and the World Food Program.

Despite the promises to facilitate the flow of aid, the restrictions imposed on the entry of food and fuel, in addition to the ongoing attacks near the crossings, have prevented the supplies from reaching the needy. In addition, the chaotic aid distribution inside Gaza increased the complexity of the situation and the situation of civilians in greater danger.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented the death of hundreds of people while trying to get aid, amid the continued shooting and bombing near relief truck tracks, and a military distribution points.