More aid needed to tackle famine-like conditions in Gaza, says WFP

From dawn to dusk, a Gaza family focuses on one thing: finding food

The Independent

an hour ago

The Independent

From dawn to dusk, a Gaza family focuses on one thing: finding food

Every morning, Abeer and Fadi Sobh wake up in their tent in the Gaza Strip to the same question: How will they find food for themselves and their six young children? The couple has three options: Maybe a charity kitchen will be open and they can get a pot of watery lentils. Or they can try jostling through crowds to get some flour from a passing aid truck. The last resort is begging. If those all fail, they simply don't eat. It happens more and more these days, as hunger saps their energy, strength and hope. The predicament of the Sobhs, who live in a seaside refugee camp west of Gaza City after being displaced multiple times, is the same for families throughout the war-ravaged territory. Hunger has grown throughout the past 22 months of war because of aid restrictions, humanitarian workers say. But food experts warned earlier this week the 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza.' Israel enforced a complete blockade on food and other supplies for 2½ months beginning in March. It said its objective was to increase pressure on Hamas to release dozens of hostages it has held since its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Though the flow of aid resumed in May, the amount is a fraction of what aid organizations say is needed. A breakdown of law and order has also made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food. Much of the aid that does get in is hoarded or sold in markets at exorbitant prices. Here is a look at a day in the life of the Sobh family: A morning seawater bath The family wakes up in their tent, which Fadi Sobh, a 30-year-old street vendor, says is unbearably hot in the summer. With fresh water hard to come by, his wife Abeer, 29, fetches water from the sea. One by one, the children stand in a metal basin and scrub themselves as their mother pours the saltwater over their heads. Nine-month-old Hala cries as it stings her eyes. The other children are more stoic. Abeer then rolls up the bedding and sweeps the dust and sand from the tent floor. With no food left over from the day before, she heads out to beg for something for her family's breakfast. Sometimes, neighbors or passersby give her lentils. Sometimes she gets nothing. Abeer gives Hala water from a baby bottle. When she's lucky, she has lentils that she grinds into powder to mix into the water. 'One day feels like 100 days, because of the summer heat, hunger and the distress,' she said. A trip to the soup kitchen Fadi heads to a nearby soup kitchen. Sometimes one of the children goes with him. 'But food is rarely available there,' he said. The kitchen opens roughly once a week and never has enough for the crowds. Most often, he said, he waits all day but returns to his family with nothing 'and the kids sleep hungry, without eating.' Fadi used to go to an area in northern Gaza where aid trucks arrive from Israel. There, giant crowds of equally desperate people swarm over the trucks and strip away the cargo of food. Often, Israeli troops nearby open fire, witnesses say. Israel says it only fires warning shots, and others in the crowd often have knives or pistols to steal boxes. Fadi, who also has epilepsy, was shot in the leg last month. That has weakened him too much to scramble for the trucks, so he's left with trying the kitchens. Meanwhile, Abeer and her three eldest children — 10-year-old Youssef, 9-year-old Mohammed and 7-year-old Malak — head out with plastic jerrycans to fill up from a truck that brings freshwater from central Gaza's desalination plant. The kids struggle with the heavy jerrycans. Youssef loads one onto his back, while Mohammed half-drags his, his little body bent sideways as he tries to keep it out of the dust of the street. A scramble for aid Abeer sometimes heads to Zikim herself, alone or with Youssef. Most in the crowds are men — faster and stronger than she is. 'Sometimes I manage to get food, and in many cases, I return empty-handed,' she said. If she's unsuccessful, she appeals to the sense of charity of those who succeeded. 'You survived death thanks to God, please give me anything,' she tells them. Many answer her plea, and she gets a small bag of flour to bake for the children, she said. She and her son have become familiar faces. One man who regularly waits for the trucks, Youssef Abu Saleh, said he often sees Abeer struggling to grab food, so he gives her some of his. 'They're poor people and her husband is sick,' he said. 'We're all hungry and we all need to eat.' During the hottest part of the day, the six children stay in or around the tent. Their parents prefer the children sleep during the heat — it stops them from running around, using up energy and getting hungry and thirsty. Foraging and begging in the afternoon As the heat eases, the children head out. Sometimes Abeer sends them to beg for food from their neighbors. Otherwise, they scour Gaza's bombed-out streets, foraging through the rubble and trash for anything to fuel the family's makeshift stove. They've become good at recognizing what might burn. Scraps of paper or wood are best, but hardest to find. The bar is low: plastic bottles, plastic bags, an old shoe — anything will do. One of the boys came across a pot in the trash one day — it's what Abeer now uses to cook. The family has been displaced so many times, they have few belongings left. 'I have to manage to get by,' Abeer said. 'What can I do? We are eight people.' If they're lucky, lentil stew for dinner After a day spent searching for the absolute basics to sustain life — food, water, fuel to cook — the family sometimes has enough of all three for Abeer to make a meal. Usually it's a thin lentil soup. But often there is nothing, and they all go to bed hungry. Abeer said she's grown weak and often feels dizzy when she's out searching for food or water. 'I am tired. I am no longer able,' she said. 'If the war goes on, I am thinking of taking my life. I no longer have any strength or power.' ___

‘Everything we do is under siege': small fundraisers try to provide lifeline in Gaza

The Guardian

14 hours ago

The Guardian

‘Everything we do is under siege': small fundraisers try to provide lifeline in Gaza

Every day, new images come from Gaza that depict the most unimaginable horrors: hunger, despair and murder. It's rare to see a glimmer of hope in this unrelenting suffering, but last week a video posted by Stephanie Shih, of fresh vegetables being purchased from one of the few remaining family farms in the Gaza Strip, provided one. Sadly, the prices were astronomical – sometimes as much as $40 for a few eggplants. Since Israel has stopped almost all food and aid getting into Gaza, prices of what little food has been grown, stockpiled or looted have soared. The fresh vegetables could be purchased thanks to a mutual aid fund run by Shih, an artist based out of New York. Shih has raised over $600,000 since March 2024 from a fund she runs from her Instagram and word of mouth. Half of the money goes to a photojournalist in Gaza with a history of community work, who helps organise distributions of cooked food, produce, water, tents, cloth and cash. 'He's able to leverage his longstanding relationships with local vendors to get decent deals on what little product is available in the markets, which is then distributed for free to families who cannot afford it,' Shih said. The funds enabled him to buy the vegetables and pass them on to other families. The other half of the money is given to around 30 families in Gaza that Shih has developed close relationships with since 2024. Shih is one of a number of individuals and groups based in the US who have set up uncertified and unofficial mutual aid funds for people in Gaza. The funds solicit donations from all over the world. Some are working with Palestinians in Gaza to organise complex distribution networks, others are simply wiring money directly to trusted individuals in Gaza to distribute. Just this week, Reviving Gaza, a mutual aid group founded by three displaced Gazan siblings, posted videos of 1,500 loaves of fresh bread being baked with flour secured by their group. This kind of distribution is often uneven and not nearly enough to sustain the population of Gaza. The amount they can raise is also limited by personal networks and social media followers. Yet for people living under the most unimaginably horrific conditions, these donations can be a lifeline. Since the beginning of the war, aid has been severely restricted – only a small number of aid trucks are allowed into Gaza and what's allowed in is heavily controlled by Israel. But things got considerably worse in March, when Israel enacted a total blockade on all food, aid and medicine into Gaza. The small amount of aid still being distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a USand Israeli-backed group, comes with great risk: Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians at its food distribution sites since May. Earlier this month more than 100 charities wrote an open letter to say that they were seeing Palestinians, including their own colleagues, wasting away as famine grips Gaza. The letter blamed Israeli restrictions on, and 'massacres' at, aid distribution points. Israel's foreign ministry says it is now allowing in about 70 aid trucks a day – well below the 500 to 600 trucks the UN says are needed and that entered daily during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year. 'On a given day when a NGO has to shut down highly visible operations because of military threats, fundraisers like ours can still operate,' says Shih. 'But those NGOs could be up the very next day serving more people than our small team could handle. NGOs have more money and resources but are also bound by international bureaucracy and political tensions. Mutual aid groups are more nimble, have less overhead and are able to distribute moderate amounts of aid quickly.' While some mutual aid funds are being run by individuals like Shih, others are small collectives that focus on certain kinds of aid – like Water is Life, which sources water from wells in northern Gaza and, with the help of donations, pays for trucks to distribute it around the strip. Mutual Aid Funds says that in the past few weeks interest and donations have soared as more images of starvation and Israeli violence reach western media. Grassroots Gaza is a fund run by a large number of Palestinians who now live abroad. 'Donations are a lifeline in these catastrophic times,' said their cofounding member, who asked not to be named. 'For example, we've been sending clean water trucks to al-Naser in north Gaza for months. And we chose this area precisely because it's a residential neighborhood, not a camp or UN school, and is often overlooked by large NGOs and international aid initiatives.' Notably, these funds use existing networks and wire transfers to get money to Gaza, avoiding platforms like GoFundMe which has frozen or returned millions of dollars raised on its platform meant to reach Gaza. But once money reaches Gaza, some brokers are charging 40% fees to get cash. These fees are a big part of the reason people can't afford food. Many merchants used to accept digital transfers, but no longer. Virtual money is losing value because it has to be converted to cash at some point. Food prices are changing constantly, but Tamar Glezerman, who fundraises via Venmo with the help of a friend in Gaza, says prices last week were 1,100 shekels ($324) for 10kg of flour, 200 shekels ($59) for Canned sardines and 54 shekels ($15) for wet wipes. That's not to say mutual aid groups can account that every dollar they raise is spent in the most effective way. Grassroots Gaza acknowledges the emergence of 'black markets, skyrocketing prices, and exploitative merchants' but says that it is not the fault of those sending money and 'is directly linked to and engineered by the ongoing genocidal war'. Many financial operators also saddle huge surcharges on money being sent to Gaza. 'Everything we do is carried out and organized under siege, bombardment, starvation, and abandonment by the international community and neighboring countries. Nothing about this moment is perfect, and yet we continue to provide rooted in care, accountability, and love to our people,' said the group's spokesperson. Yesterday, as she was about to send more money, Shih got a heartbreaking reply from one of the families she regularly donates to: 'I think there is no need for that. We will not be able to use this money for anything. The situation is very bad and the prices are very high. This is the last thing I ever expected to say in my life.' Shih says she will continue to send funds to the family, but the only way to help every Palestinian in Gaza is with an immediate ceasefire and open borders. 'If there was enough food to feed the people of Gaza, there would be no black market. Flour didn't cost 120 shekels a kilo before the genocide. Israel is manufacturing the starvation of Gaza and then pointing to people's desperation as proof of their depravity, but the depravity is Israel's alone.'

The Guardian

16 hours ago

The Guardian

‘Everything we do is under siege': small fundraisers try to provide lifeline in Gaza

Every day, new images come from Gaza that depict the most unimaginable horrors: hunger, despair and murder. It's rare to see a glimmer of hope in this unrelenting suffering, but last week a video posted by Stephanie Shih, of fresh vegetables being purchased from one of the few remaining family farms in the Gaza Strip, provided one. Sadly, the prices were astronomical – sometimes as much as $40 for a few eggplants. Since Israel has stopped almost all food and aid getting into Gaza, prices of what little food has been grown, stockpiled or looted have soared. The fresh vegetables could be purchased thanks to a mutual aid fund run by Shih, an artist based out of New York. Shih has raised over $600,000 since March 2024 from a fund she runs from her Instagram and word of mouth. Half of the money goes to a photojournalist in Gaza with a history of community work, who helps organise distributions of cooked food, produce, water, tents, cloth and cash. 'He's able to leverage his longstanding relationships with local vendors to get decent deals on what little product is available in the markets, which is then distributed for free to families who cannot afford it,' Shih said. The funds enabled him to buy the vegetables and pass them on to other families. The other half of the money is given to around 30 families in Gaza that Shih has developed close relationships with since 2024. Shih is one of a number of individuals and groups based in the US who have set up uncertified and unofficial mutual aid funds for people in Gaza. The funds solicit donations from all over the world. Some are working with Palestinians in Gaza to organise complex distribution networks, others are simply wiring money directly to trusted individuals in Gaza to distribute. Just this week, Reviving Gaza, a mutual aid group founded by three displaced Gazan siblings, posted videos of 1,500 loaves of fresh bread being baked with flour secured by their group. This kind of distribution is often uneven and not nearly enough to sustain the population of Gaza. The amount they can raise is also limited by personal networks and social media followers. Yet for people living under the most unimaginably horrific conditions, these donations can be a lifeline. Since the beginning of the war, aid has been severely restricted – only a small number of aid trucks are allowed into Gaza and what's allowed in is heavily controlled by Israel. But things got considerably worse in March, when Israel enacted a total blockade on all food, aid and medicine into Gaza. The small amount of aid still being distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a USand Israeli-backed group, comes with great risk: Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians at its food distribution sites since May. Earlier this month more than 100 charities wrote an open letter to say that they were seeing Palestinians, including their own colleagues, wasting away as famine grips Gaza. The letter blamed Israeli restrictions on, and 'massacres' at, aid distribution points. Israel's foreign ministry says it is now allowing in about 70 aid trucks a day – well below the 500 to 600 trucks the UN says are needed and that entered daily during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year. 'On a given day when a NGO has to shut down highly visible operations because of military threats, fundraisers like ours can still operate,' says Shih. 'But those NGOs could be up the very next day serving more people than our small team could handle. NGOs have more money and resources but are also bound by international bureaucracy and political tensions. Mutual aid groups are more nimble, have less overhead and are able to distribute moderate amounts of aid quickly.' While some mutual aid funds are being run by individuals like Shih, others are small collectives that focus on certain kinds of aid – like Water is Life, which sources water from wells in northern Gaza and, with the help of donations, pays for trucks to distribute it around the strip. Mutual Aid Funds says that in the past few weeks interest and donations have soared as more images of starvation and Israeli violence reach western media. Grassroots Gaza is a fund run by a large number of Palestinians who now live abroad. 'Donations are a lifeline in these catastrophic times,' said their cofounding member, who asked not to be named. 'For example, we've been sending clean water trucks to al-Naser in north Gaza for months. And we chose this area precisely because it's a residential neighborhood, not a camp or UN school, and is often overlooked by large NGOs and international aid initiatives.' Notably, these funds use existing networks and wire transfers to get money to Gaza, avoiding platforms like GoFundMe which has frozen or returned millions of dollars raised on its platform meant to reach Gaza. But once money reaches Gaza, some brokers are charging 40% fees to get cash. These fees are a big part of the reason people can't afford food. Many merchants used to accept digital transfers, but no longer. Virtual money is losing value because it has to be converted to cash at some point. Food prices are changing constantly, but Tamar Glezerman, who fundraises via Venmo with the help of a friend in Gaza, says prices last week were 1,100 shekels ($324) for 10kg of flour, 200 shekels ($59) for Canned sardines and 54 shekels ($15) for wet wipes. That's not to say mutual aid groups can account that every dollar they raise is spent in the most effective way. Grassroots Gaza acknowledges the emergence of 'black markets, skyrocketing prices, and exploitative merchants' but says that it is not the fault of those sending money and 'is directly linked to and engineered by the ongoing genocidal war'. Many financial operators also saddle huge surcharges on money being sent to Gaza. 'Everything we do is carried out and organized under siege, bombardment, starvation, and abandonment by the international community and neighboring countries. Nothing about this moment is perfect, and yet we continue to provide rooted in care, accountability, and love to our people,' said the group's spokesperson. Yesterday, as she was about to send more money, Shih got a heartbreaking reply from one of the families she regularly donates to: 'I think there is no need for that. We will not be able to use this money for anything. The situation is very bad and the prices are very high. This is the last thing I ever expected to say in my life.' Shih says she will continue to send funds to the family, but the only way to help every Palestinian in Gaza is with an immediate ceasefire and open borders. 'If there was enough food to feed the people of Gaza, there would be no black market. Flour didn't cost 120 shekels a kilo before the genocide. Israel is manufacturing the starvation of Gaza and then pointing to people's desperation as proof of their depravity, but the depravity is Israel's alone.'

More aid needed to tackle famine-like conditions in Gaza, says WFP

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From dawn to dusk, a Gaza family focuses on one thing: finding food

‘Everything we do is under siege': small fundraisers try to provide lifeline in Gaza

‘Everything we do is under siege': small fundraisers try to provide lifeline in Gaza

More aid needed to tackle famine-like conditions in Gaza, says WFP

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From dawn to dusk, a Gaza family focuses on one thing: finding food

‘Everything we do is under siege': small fundraisers try to provide lifeline in Gaza

‘Everything we do is under siege': small fundraisers try to provide lifeline in Gaza

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